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UC-NRLF 


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The  Pig  Brother 


La^ura^  E.Richzwrds 


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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

Education 

GIFT  OF 

Jane  Eshleman  Conant 


THE  PIG  BROTHER 

AND 

OTHER  FABLES  AND  STORIES 


A  SUPPLEMENTARY  READER 

FOR   THE 

FOURTH  SCHOOL  YEAR 


BT 

LAURA    E.    RICHARDS 

4UTHOB    OF    '*THE  GOLDEN  WINDOWS,"    "THE    8ILVER  CROWN,' 

*'IN   MY  NURSERY,"  '' THE  JOYOU8  3TOBY 

OF  TOTO,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND   COMPANY 
1911 


Copyright,  1881, 1885, 1890,  by  Roberts  Brothers^ 

Copyright,  1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895,  by  The  Century  Co. 

Copyright,  1895,  ft^  Estes  and  Lauriat. 

Copyright,  1903, 1906, 1908,  by  Little,  Brown,  and  Company. 


All  rights  reserved 


JIduoation 


GIFT 


iPrfntera 
8.  J.  Pabkhill  &  Co.,  BoaxoK,  U.  8.  A. 


CONTENTS 


95:4 

no?. 


PAOB 

The  Pig  Brother 1 

The  Golden  Windows  .       » 5 

The  Coming  of  the  King 11 

Swing  Song 15 

The  Great  Feast 17 

The  Owl  and  the  Eel  and  the  Warming  -  pan  .  20 

The  Wheat  Field 21 

About  Angels 24 

The  Apron  String 29 

The  Shadow 32 

The  Sailor  Man 34 

"  Go  "  and  "  Come  " 37 

Child's  Play 39 

Little  John  Bottlejohn 42 

A  Fortune     , 44 

The  Stars 46 

Buttercup  Gold 48 

The  Patient  Cat    .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .57 

Alice's  Supper 60 

The  Quacky  Duck 62 

At  the  Little  Boy's  Home 65 

New  Year 67 

Jacky  Frost 71 

The  Cake 72 

"Oh,  Dear!" .  75 

The  Useful  Coal           84 

Song  of  the  Little  Winds 92 

vii 


422 


viii  CONTENTS 

FA«X 

The  Three  Remarks 93 

HoKEY  Pokey 106 

The  Tangled  Skein 119 

A  Song  for  Hal 122 

For  You  and  Me 125 

The  Burning  House 127 

The  Naughty  Comet 129 

Day  Dreams 141 


THE  PIG  BROTHER 

HERE  was  once  a  child 
who  was  untidy.  He 
left  his  books  on  the 
floor,  and  his  muddy 
shoes  on  the  table ; 
he  put  his  fingers  in 
the  jam-pots,  and  spilled 
ink  on  his  best  pina- 
fore;  there  was  really  no  end  to  his  un- 
tidiness. 

One  day  the  Tidy  Angel  came  into  his 
nursery. 

"  This  will  never  do ! "  said  the  Angel. 
"This  is  really  shocking.  You  must  go 
out  and  stay  with  your  brother  while  I 
set  things  to  rights  here." 

"  I  have  no  brother  ! "  said  the  child. 
"  Yes,  you  have  ! "  said  the  Angel.    "  You 
may  not  know  him,  but  he  will  know  you. 
Go  out  in  the  garden  and  watch  for  him, 
and  he  will  soon  come." 

1 


2  THE   PIG   BROTHER 

"I  don't  know  what  you  mean!'*  said 
the  child ;  but  he  went  out  into  the  garden 
and  waited. 

Presently  a  squirrel  came  along,  whisk- 
ing his  tail. 

*'  Are  you  my  brother  ? "  asked  the  child. 

The  squirrel  looked  him  over  carefully. 

"Well,  I  should  hope  not!"  he  said. 
"  My  fur  is  neat  and  smooth,  my  nest  is 
handsomely  made,  and  in  perfect  order, 
and  my  young  ones  are  properly  brought 
up.  Why  do  you  insult  me  by  asking 
such  a  question?" 

He  whisked  off,  and  the  child  waited. 

Presently  a  wren  came  hopping  by. 

"  Are  you  my  brother  ? "  asked  the  child. 

"  No  indeed  I  "  said  the  wren.  "  What 
impertinence !  You  will  find  no  tidier 
person  than  1  in  the  whole  garden.  Not 
a  feather  is  out  of  place,  and  my  eggs 
are  the  wonder  of  all  for  smoothness  and 
beauty.  Brother,  indeed  1 "  He  hopped 
off,  ruffling  his  feathers,  and  the  child 
waited. 

By  arid  by  a  large  Tommy  Cat  came 
along. 

"  Are  you  my  brother  ? "  asked  the  child. 


THE   PIG   BROTHER  3 

"  Go  and  look  at  yourself  in  the  glass," 
said  the  Tommy  Cat  haughtily,  "  and  you 
will  have  your  answer.  I  have  been  wash- 
ing myself  in  the  sun  all  the  morning, 
while  it  is  clear  that  no  water  has  come 
near  you  for  a  long  time.  There  are  no 
such  creatures  as  you  in  my  family,  I  am 
humbly  thankful  to  say." 

He  walked  on,  waving  his  tail,  and  the 
child  waited.   - 

Presently  a  pig  came  trotting  along. 

The  child  did  not  wish  to  ask  the  pig 
if  he  were  his  brother,  but  the  pig  did  not 
wait  to  be  asked. 

"  Hallo,  brother  ! "  he  grunted. 

"  I  am  not  your  brother  I  "  said  the  child. 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  are  ! "  said  the  pig.  "  I 
confess  I  am  not  proud  of  you,  but  there 
is  no  mistaking  the  members  of  our  family. 
Come  along,  and  have  a  good  roll  in  the 
barnyard  I  There  is  some  lovely  black 
mud  there." 

"  I  don't  like  to  roll  in  mud  1 "  said  the 
child. 

"  Tell  that  to  the  hens  1 "  said  the  pig 
brother.  "  Look  at  your  hands,  and  your 
shoes,   and  your  pinafore!     Come   along, 


4  THE    PIG    BROTHER 

I  say !  You  may  have  some  of  the  pig- 
wash for  supper,  if  there  is  more  than  I 
want." 

"  I  don't  want  pig- wash  !  "  said  the  child ; 
and  he  began  to  cry. 

Just  then  the  Tidy  Angel  came  out. 

"  I  have  set  everything  to  rights,"  she 
said,  "  and  so  it  must  stay.  Now,  will 
you  go  wdth  the  Pig  Brother,  or  will  you 
come  back  with  me,  and  be  a  tidy  child  ? " 

"  With  you,  with  you  ! "  cried  the  child ; 
and  he  clung  to  the  Angel's  dress. 

The  Pig  Brother  grunted. 

"  Small  loss  ! "  he  said.  "  There  will  be 
all  the  more  wash  for  me ! "  and  he  trotted 
on. 


THE   GOLDEN  WINDOWS 

LL  day  long  the  little  boy 
worked  hard,  in  field  and 
barn  and  shed,  for  his  people 
were  poor  farmers,  and 
could  not  pay  a  workman; 
but  at  sunset  there  came 
an  hour  that  was  all  his 
own,  for  his  father  had  given  it  to  him. 
Then  the  boy  would  go  up  to  the  top  of 
a  hill  and  look  across  at  another  hill  that 
rose  some  miles  away.  On  this  far  hill 
stood  a  house  with  windows  of  clear  gold 
and  diamonds.  They  shone  and  blazed 
so  that  it  made  the  boy  wink  to  look  at 
them  :  but  after  a  while  the  people  in  the 
house  put  up  shutters,  as  it  seemed,  and 
then  it  looked    like  any  common   farm- 

6 


6  THE   GOLDEN   WINDOWS 

house.  The  boy  supposed  they  did  this 
because  it  was  supper-time;  and  then  he 
would  go  into  the  house  and  have  his 
supper  of  bread  and  milk,  and  so  to  bed. 

One  day  the  boy's  father  called  him  and 
said:  "You  have  been  a  good  boy,  and 
have  earned  a  holiday.  Take  this  day  for 
your  own ;  but  remember  that  God  gave 
it,  and  try  to  learn  some  good  thing." 

The  boy  thanked  his  father  and  kissed 
his  mother  ;  then  he  put  a  piece  of  bread 
in  his  pocket,  and  started  off  to  find  the 
house  with  the  golden  windows. 

It  was  pleasant  walking.  His  bare  feet 
made  marks  in  the  white  dust,  and  when 
he  looked  back,  the  footprints  seemed  to 
be  following  him,  and  making  company 
for  him.  His  shadow,  too,  kept  beside 
him,  and  would  dance  or  run  with  him  as 
he  pleased  ;   so  it  was  very  cheerful. 

By  and  by  he  felt  hungry ;  and  he  sat 
down  by  a  brown  brook  that  ran  through 
the  alder  hedge  by  the  roadside,  and  ate 
his  bread,  and  drank  the  clear  water. 
Then  he  scattered  the  crumbs  for  the 
birds,  as  his  mother  had  taught  him  to 
do,  and  went  on  his  way. 


THE   GOLDEN   WINDOWS  7 

AiPter  a  long  time  he  came  to  a  high 
green  hill ;  and  when  he  had  climbed  the 
hill,  there  was  the  house  on  the  top ;  but 
it  seemed  that  the  shutters  were  up,  for 
he  could  not  see  the  golden  windows.  He 
came  up  to  the  house,  and  then  he  could 
well  have  wept,  for  the  windows  were  of 
clear  glass,  like  any  others,  and  there  was 
no  gold  anywhere  about  them. 

A  woman  came  to  the  door,  and  looked 
kindly  at  the  boy,  and  asked  him  what  he 
wanted. 

"  I  saw  the  golden  windows  from  our 
hilltop,"  he  said,  "  and  I  came  to  see  them, 
but  now  they  are  only  glass." 

The  woman  shook  her  head  and  laughed. 

"  We  are  poor  farming  people,"  she  said, 
"and  are  not  likely  to  have  gold  about 
our  windows;  but  glass  is  better  to  see 
through." 

She  bade  the  boy  sit  down  on  the 
broad  stone  step  at  the  door,  and  brought 
him  a  cup  of  milk  and  a  cake,  and  bade 
him  rest;  then  she  called  her  daugh- 
ter, a  child  of  his  own  age,  and  nodded 
kindly  at  the  two,  and  went  back  to  her 
work. 


8  THE   GOLDEN   WINDOWS 

The  little  girl  was  barefooted  like  him- 
self, and  wore  a  brown  cotton  gown,  but 
her  hair  was  golden  like  the  windows  he 
had  seen,  and  her  eyes  were  blue  like  the 
sky  at  noon.  She  led  the  boy  about  the 
farm,  and  showed  him  her  black  calf  with 
the  white  star  on  its  forehead,  and  he 
told  her  about  his  own  at  home,  which 
was  red  like  a  chestnut,  with  four  white 
feet.  Then  when  they  had  eaten  an  apple 
together,  and  so  had  become  friends,  the 
boy  asked  her  about  the  golden  windows. 
The  little  girl  nodded,  and  said  she  knew 
all  about  them,  only  he  had  mistaken  the 
house. 

"  You  have  come  quite  the  wrong  way  I " 
she  said.  "  Come  with  me,  and  I  will 
show  you  the  house  with  the  golden  win- 
dows, and  then  you  will  see  for  yourself" 

They  went  to  a  knoll  that  rose  behind 
the  farmhouse,  and  as  they  went  the  little 
girl  told  him  that  the  golden  windows 
could  only  be  seen  at  a  certain  hour,  about 
sunset. 

"  Yes,  I  know  that  I "  said  the  boy. 

When  they  reached  the  top  of  the  knoll, 
the  girl  turned  and  pointed ;  and  there  on 


THE   GOLDEN   WINDOWS  9 

a  hill  far  away  stood  a  house  with  windows 
of  dear  gold  and  diamond,  just  as  he  had 
seen  them.  And  when  they  looked  again, 
the  boy  saw  that  it  was  his  own  home. 

Then  he  told  the  little  girl  that  he  must 
go;  and  he  gave  her  his  best  pebble,  the 
white  one  with  the  red  band,  that  he  had 
carried  for  a  year  in  his  pocket ;  and  she 
gave  him  three  horse-chestnuts,  one  red 
like  satin,  one  spotted,  and  one  white  like 
milk.  He  kissed  her,  and  promised  to 
come  again,  but  he  did  not  tell  her  what 
he  had  learned  ;  and  so  he  went  back  down 
the  hill,  and  the  little  girl  stood  in  the 
sunset  light  and  watched  him. 

The  way  home  was  long,  and  it  was 
dark  before  the  boy  reached  his  father's 
house ;  but  the  lamplight  and  firelight 
shone  through  the  windows,  making  them 
almost  as  bright  as  he  had  seen  them  from 
the  hilltop ;  and  when  he  opened  the  door, 
his  mother  came  to  kiss  him,  and  his  little 
sister  ran  to  throw  her  arms  about  his 
neck,  and  his  father  looked  up  and  smiled 
from  his  seat  by  the  fire. 

"  Have  you  had  a  good  day  ?  "  asked  his 
mother. 


10  THE   GOLDEN   WINDOWS 

Yes,  the  boy  had  had  a  very  good  day. 

"  And  have  you  learned  anything  ? "  asked 
his  father. 

"  Yes  ! "  said  the  boy.  "  I  have  learned 
that  our  house  has  windows  of  gold  and 
diamond." 


THE   COMING  OF  THE   KING 

OME  children  were  at  play 
in     their    play-ground     one 
day,  when  a  herald   rode 
through  the  town,  blow- 
ing a  trumpet,  and  crying 
aloud,     "  The  King !  the 
King  passes  by  this  road 
to-day.     Make  ready  for  the  King  I " 

The  children  stopped  their  play,  and 
looked   at   one   another. 

"  Did  you  hear  that  ? "  they  said.  "  The 
King  is  coming.  He  may  look  over  the 
wall  and  see  our  playground  ;  who  knows  ? 
We  must  put  it  in  order." 

The  playground  was  sadly  dirty,  and 
in  the  corners  were  scraps  of  paper  and 
broken  toys,  for  these  were  careless  chil- 
dren. But  now,  one  brought  a  hoe,  and 
another  a  rake,  and  a  third  ran  to  fetch 
the  wheelbarrow  from  behind  the  garden 
gate.      They  labored  hard,  till  at  length 

all  was  clean  and  tidy, 

11 


12      THE    COMING    OF   THE   KING 

"  Now  it  is  clean ! "  they  said  ;  "  but  we 
must  make  it  pretty,  too,  for  kings  are 
used  to  fine  things ;  maybe  he  would  not 
notice  mere  cleanness,  for  he  may  have  it 
all  the  time/' 

Then  one  brought  sweet  rushes  and 
strewed  them  on  the  ground  ;  and  others 
made  garlands  of  oak  leaves  and  pine 
tassels  and  hung  them  on  the  walls  ;  and 
the  littlest  one  pulled  marigold  buds  and 
threw  them  all  about  the  playground,  "  to 
look  like  gold,"  he  said. 

When  all  was  done  the  playground  was 
so  beautiful  that  the  children  stood  and 
looked  at  it,  and  clapped  their  hands  with 
pleasure. 

"  Let  us  keep  it  always  like  this ! "  said 
the  littlest  one;  and  the  others  cried, 
"  Yes  1  yes  !  that  is  what  we  will  do." 

They  waited  all  day  for  the  coming 
of  the  King,  but  he  never  came ;  only, 
towards  sunset,  a  man  wdth  travel-worn 
clothes,  and  a  kind,  tired  face  passed  along 
the  road,  and  stopped  to  look  over  the 
wall. 

"  What  a  pleasant  place  ! ''  said  the  man. 
"  May  I  come  in  and  rest,  dear  children  ? " 


THE  COMING  OF   THE   KING      13 

The  children  brought  him  in  gladly,  and 
set  him  on  the  seat  that  they  had  made 
out  of  an  old  cask.  They  had  covered  it 
with  the  old  red  cloak  to  make  it  look  Uke 
a  throne,  and  it  made  a  very  good  one. 

"  It  is  our  playgTound !  '  they  said. 
"  We  made  it  pretty  for  the  King,  but  he 
did  not  come,  and  now  we  mean  to  keep 
it  so  for  ourselves." 

"  That  is  good  !  "  said  the  man. 

"  Because  we  think  pretty  and  clean  is 
nicer  than  ugly  and  dirty  ! "  said  another. 

"  That  is  better  1 "  said  the  man. 

"  And  for  tired  people  to  rest  in  ! "  said 
the  littlest  one. 

"  That  is  best  of  all ! "  said  the  man. 

He  sat  and  rested,  and  looked  at  the 
children  with  such  kind  eyes  that  they 
came  about  him,  and  told  him  all  they 
knew ;  about  the  five  puppies  in  the  barn, 
and  the  thrush's  nest  with  four  blue 
eggs,  and  the  shore  where  the  gold  shells 
grew;  and  the  man  nodded  and  under- 
stood all  about  it. 

By  and  by  he  asked  for  a  cup  of  water, 
and  they  brought  it  to  him  in  the  best 
cup,  with  the  gold  sprigs  on  it:  then  he 


14      THE    COMING   OF   THE   KING 

thanked  the  children,  and  rose  and  went 
on  his  way;  but  before  he  went  he  laid 
his  hand  on  their  heads  for  a  moment, 
and  the  touch  went  warm  to  their  hearts. 

The  children  stood  by  the  wall  and 
watched  the  man  as  he  went  slowly  along. 
The  sun  was  setting,  and  the  light  fell  in 
long  slanting  rays  across  the  road. 

"  He  looks  so  tired ! "  said  one  of  the 
children. 

"  But  he  was  so  kind  ! "  said  another. 

"See!"  said  the  littlest  one.  "How 
the  sun  shines  on  his  hair!  it  looks  like 
a  crown  of  gold." 


SWING   SONG 


S  I  swing,  as  I  swing, 
Here  beneath  my 

mother's  wing, 
Here  beneath  my 

mother's  arm. 
Never  earthly  thing 
can  harm. 
Up  and  down,  to  and  fro. 
With  a  steady  sweep  I  go. 
Like  a  swallow  on  the  wing. 
As  I  swing,  as  I  swing. 


As  I  swing,  as  I  swing. 
Honey-bee  comes  murmuring. 
Humming  softly  in  my  ear, 
"  Come  away  with  me,  my  dear ! 
In  the  tiger-lily's  cup 
Sweetest  honey  we  will  sup." 
Go  away,  you  velvet  thing ! 
I  must  swing  !     I  must  swing ! 

15 


16  SWING   SONG 

As  I  swing,  as  I  swing, 
Butterfly  comes  fluttering, 
**  Little  child,  now  come  away 
'Mid  the  clover-blooms  to  play; 
Clover-blooms  are  red  and  white. 
Sky  is  blue  and  sun  is  bright. 
Why  then  thus,  with  folded  wing. 
Sit  and  swing,  sit  and  swing  ?  " 

As  I  swing,  as  I  swing. 
Oriole  comes  hovering. 
"  See  my  nest  in  yonder  tree ! 
Little  child,  come  work  with  me. 
Learn  to  make  a  perfect  nest. 
That  of  all  things  is  the  best. 
Come  !    nor  longer  loitering 
Sit  and  swing,  sit  and  swing !  " 

As  I  swing,  as  I  swing, 
Though  I  have  not  any  wing. 
Still  I  would  not  change  with  you. 
Happiest  bird  that  ever  flew. 
Butterfly  and  honey-bee, 
Sure  't  is  you  must  envy  me, 
Safe  beneath  my  mother's  wing 
As  I  swing,  as  I  swing. 


THE   GREAT  FEAST 


NCE  the  Play  Angel 
came  into  a  nursery 
where  four  little  chil- 
dren sat  on  the  floor 
with  sad  and  troubled 
faces. 

"  What  is  the  matter, 
dears  ? "  asked  the  Play  Angel. 

"We  wanted  to  have  a  grand  feast!" 
said  the  child  whose  nursery  it  was. 

"Yes,  that  would  be  delightful!"  said 
the  Play  Angel. 

"  But  there  is  only  one  cooky !  "  said  the 
child  whose  nursery  it  was. 

"  And  it  is  a  very  small  cooky ! "  said 
the  child  who  was  a  cousin,  and  therefore 
felt  a  right  to  speak. 

"Not  big  enough  for  myself!"  said  the 
child  whose  nursery  it  was. 

The  other  two  children  said  nothing, 
because  they  were  not  relations ;  but  they 

17 


18  THE   GREAT   FEAST 

looked  at  the  cooky  with  large  eyes,  and 
their  mouths  went  up  in  the  middle  and 
down  at  the  sides. 

"  Well,"  said  the  Play  Angel,  "  suppose 
we  have  the  feast  just  the  same  !  I  think 
we  can  manage  it." 

She  broke  the  cooky  into  four  pieces, 
and  gave  one  piece  to  the  littlest  child. 

"  See  I "  she  said.  "  This  is  a  roast 
chicken,  a  Brown  Bantam.  It  is  just  as 
brown  and  crispy  as  it  can  be,  and  there 
is  cranberry  sauce  on  one  side,  and  on  the 
other  a  little  mountain  of  mashed  potato ; 
it  must  be  a  volcano,  it  smokes  so.  Do 
you  see?" 

"  Yes  1 "  said  the  littlest  one ;  and  his 
mouth  went  down  in  the  middle  and  up 
at  the  corners. 

The  Play  Angel  gave  a  piece  to  the 
next  child. 

"  Here,"  she  said,  "  is  a  little  pie  !  Out- 
side, as  you  see,  it  is  brown  and  crusty, 
with  a  wreath  of  pastry  leaves  round  the 
edge  and  *  For  You'  in  the  middle;  but 
inside  it  is  all  chicken  and  ham  and  jelly 
and  hard-boiled  eggs.  Did  ever  you  see 
such  a  pie  ? " 


THE   GREAT   FEAST  19 

"  Never  I  did  !  "  said  the  child. 

"Now  here,"  said  the  Angel  to  the 
third  child,  "is  a  round  cake.  Look  at 
it !  the  frosting  is  half  an  inch  thick,  with 
candied  rose-leaves  and  angelica  laid  on 
in  true-lovers'  knots ;  and  inside  there  are 
chopped-up  almonds,  and  raisins,  and  great 
slices  of  citron.  It  is  the  prettiest  cake 
I  ever  saw,  and  the   best." 

"  So  it  is  I  did  ! "  said  the  third  child. 

Then  the  Angel  gave  the  last  piece  to 
the  child  whose  nursery  it  was. 

"  My  dear  ! "  she  said.  "  Just  look  ! 
Here  is  an  ice-cream  rabbit.  He  is 
snow-white  outside,  with  eyes  of  red 
barley  sugar;  see  his  ears,  and  his  little 
snubby  tail !  but  inside,  I  think  you  will 
find  him  pink.  Now,  when  I  clap  my 
hands  and  count  one,  two,  three,  you 
must  eat  the  feast  all  up.  One  —  two  — 
three!" 

So  the  children  ate  the  feast  all  up. 

"  There  ! "  said  the  Angel.  "  Did  ever 
you  see  such  a  grand  feast  ? " 

"  No,  never  we  did  ! "  said  all  the  four 
children  together. 

*'  And  there  are  some  crumbs  left  over,*' 


20  THE   GREAT   FEAST 

said  the  Angel.  "  Come,  and  we  will  give 
them  to  the  brother  birds  !  " 

*'  But  you  did  n't  have  any !  "  said  the 
child  whose  nursery  it  was. 

"Oh,  yes  I"  said  the  Angel.  "I  had 
it  aUI" 


THE    OWL    AND    THE    EEL    AND 
THE  WARMING-PAN 

The  owl  and  the  eel  and  the  warming- 
pan, 

They  went  to  call  on  the  soap-fat  man. 

The  soap-fat  man  he  was  not  within: 

He'd  gone  for  a  ride  on  his  rolling-pin. 

So  they  all  came  back  by  the  way  of  the 
town. 

And  turned  the  meeting-house  upside 
down. 


THE   WHEAT-FIELD 


OME  children  were  set 
to  reap  in  a  wheat-field. 
The  wheat  was  yellow 
as  gold,  the  sun  shone 
gloriously,  and  the  but- 
terflies flew  hither  and 
thither.  Some  of  the 
children  worked  better,  and  some  worse; 
but  there  was  one  who  ran  here  and  there 
after  the  butterflies  that  fluttered  about 
his  head,  and  sang  as  he  ran. 

By  and  by  evening  came,  and  the  Angel 
of  the  wheat-field  called  to  the  children 
and  said,  "Come  now  to  the  gate,  and 
bring  your  sheaves  with  you." 

So  the  children  came,  bringing  their 
sheaves.  Some  had  great  piles,  laid  close 
and  even,  so  that  they  might  carry  more ; 
some  had  theirs  laid  large  and  loose,  so 
that  they  looked  more  than  they  were; 
but  one,  the  child  that  had  run  to  and  fro 
after  the  butterflies,  came  empty-handed. 

21 


22  THE   WHEAT- FIELD 

The  Angel  said  to  this  child,  "  Where 
are  your  sheaves  ? " 

The  child  hung  his  head.  "  I  do  not 
know  I "  he  said.  "  I  had  some,  but  I 
have  lost  them,  I  know  not  how." 

"  None  enter  here  without  sheaves,"  said 
the  Angel. 

"  I  know  that,"  said  the  child.  ''  But 
I  thought  I  would  like  to  see  the  place 
where  the  others  were  going  ;  besides,  they 
would  not  let  me  leave  them." 

Then  all  the  other  children  cried  out 
together.  One  said,  "  Dear  Angel,  let  him 
in !  In  the  morning  I  was  sick,  and  this 
child  came  and  played  with  me,  and 
showed  me  the  butterflies,  and  I  forgot 
my  pain.  Also,  he  gave  me  one  of  his 
sheaves,  and  I  would  give  it  to  him  again, 
but  I  cannot  tell  it  now  from  my  own." 

Another  said,  "  Dear  Angel,  let  him  in  I 
At  noon  the  sun  beat  on  my  head  so 
fiercely  that  I  fainted  and  fell  down  like 
one  dead  ;  and  this  child  came  running  by, 
and  when  he  saw  me  he  brought  water 
to  revive  me,  and  then  he  showed  me  the 
butterflies,  and  was  so  glad  and  merry 
that  my  strength  returned ;  to  me  also  he 


THE   WHEAT   FIELD. 


[P<ifl«22, 


THE   WHEAT -FIELD  23 

gave  one  of  his  sheaves,  and  I  would  give 
it  to  him  again,  but  it  is  so  like  my  own 
that  I  cannot  tell  it." 

And  a  third  said,  "  Just  now,  as  evening 
was  coming,  I  was  weary  and  sad,  and 
had  so  few  sheaves  that  it  seemed  hardly 
worth  my  while  to  go  on  working;  but 
this  child  comforted  me,  and  showed  me 
the  butterflies,  and  gave  me  of  his  sheaves. 
Look !  it  may  be  that  this  was  his ;  and 
yet  I  cannot  tell,  it  is  so  like  my  own." 

And  all  the  children  said,  "  We  also  had 
sheaves  of  him,  dear  Angel ;  let  him  in, 
we  pray  you  !  " 

The  Angel  smiled,  and  reached  his  hand 
inside  the  gate  and  brought  out  a  pile 
of  sheaves  ;  it  was  not  large,  but  the  glory 
of  the  sun  was  on  it,  so  that  it  seemed  to 
lighten  the  whole  field. 

"  Here  are  his  sheaves  ! "  said  the  Angel. 
"  They  are  known  and  counted,  every  one." 
And  he  said  to  the  child,  "  Lead  the  way 
inl" 


ABOUT  ANGELS 

OTHER;^  said 
the  child  ;  "  are 
there  really  an- 
gels ? " 

"The      Good 

Book    says    so," 

said  the  mother. 

"  Yes,"   said  the   child ;    "  I   have  seen 

the  picture.     But  did   you  ever  see  one, 

mother  ? " 

"  I  think  1  have,"  said  the  mother ;  "  but 
she  was  not  dressed  like  the  picture." 

"I  am  going  to  find  one  I"  said  the 
child.  "  I  am  going  to  run  along  the  road, 
miles,  and  miles,  and  miles,  until  I  find  an 
angel." 

"  That  will  be  a  good  .plan  I "  said  the 
mother.  "And  I  will  go  with  you,  for 
you  are  too  little  to  run  far  alone." 

"  I  am  not  little  any  more ! "  said  the 
child.     "  I  have  trousers  ;  I  am  big." 

24 


ABOUT   ANGELS  25 

"  So  you  are  !  "  said  the  mother.  "  I 
forgot.  But  it  is  a  fine  day,  and  I  should 
like  the  walk." 

"  But  you  walk  so  slowly,  with  your 
lame   foot." 

"  I  can  walk  faster  than  you  think ! " 
said  the  mother. 

So  they  started,  the  child  leaping  and 
running,  and  the  mother  stepping  out  so 
bravely  with  her  lame  foot  that  the  child 
soon  forgot  about  it. 

The  child  danced  on  ahead,  and  pres- 
ently he  saw  a  chariot  coming  towards 
him,  drawn  by  prancing  white  horses. 
In  the  chariot  sat  a  splendid  lady  in 
velvet  and  furs,  with  white  plumes  wav- 
ing above  her  dark  hair.  As  she  moved 
in  her  seat,  she  flashed  with  jewels  and 
gold,  but  her  eyes  were  brighter  than  her 
diamonds. 

"Are  you  an  angel?"  asked  the  child, 
running  up  beside  the  chariot. 

The  lady  made  no  reply,  but  stared 
coldly  at  the  child  :  then  she  spoke  a  word 
to  her  coachman,  and  he  flicked  his  whip, 
and  the  chariot  rolled  away  swiftly  in  a 
cloud  of  dust,  and  disappeared. 


26  ABOUT   ANGELS 

The  dust  filled  the  child's  eyes  and 
mouth,  and  made  him  choke  and  sneeze. 
He  gasped  for  breath,  and  rubbed  his 
eyes ;  but  presently  his  mother  came  up, 
and  wiped  away  the  dust  with  her  blue 
gingham   apron. 

*'  That  was  not  an  angel ! "  said  the  child. 

"  No,  indeed  ! "  said  the  mother.  "  Noth- 
ing like  one  1 " 

The  child  danced  on  again,  leaping  and 
running  from  side  to  side  of  the  road, 
and  the  mother  followed  as  best  she 
might. 

By  and  by  the  child  met  a  most  beauti- 
ful maiden,  clad  in  a  white  dress.  Her 
eyes  were  Uke  blue  stars,  and  the  blushes 
came  and  went  in  her  face  like  roses  look- 
ing through  snow. 

"  I  am  sure  you  must  be  an  angel ! "  cried 
the  child. 

The  maiden  blushed  more  sweetly  than 
before.  "  You  dear  little  child  ! "  she  cried. 
"  Some  one  else  said  that,  only  last  even- 
ing.    Do  I  really  look  like  an  angel  ?  " 

"  You  are  an  angel  1 "  said  the  child. 

The  maiden  took  him  up  in  her  arms 
and  kissed  him,  and  held  him  tenderly. 


ABOUT   ANGELS  27 

"  You  are  the  dearest  little  thing  I  ever 
saw!"  she  said.  "Tell  me  what  makes 
you  think  sol"  But  suddenly  her  face 
changed. 

"  Oh  ! "  she  cried.  **  There  he  is,  com- 
ing to  meet  me  1  And  you  have  soiled 
my  white  dress  with  your  dusty  shoes, 
and  pulled  my  hair  all  awry.  Run  away, 
child,  and  go  home  to  your  mother ! " 

She  set  the  child  down,  not  unkindly, 
but  so  hastily  that  he  stumbled  and  fell ; 
but  she  did  not  see  that,  for  she  was  hasten- 
ing forward  to  meet  her  lover,  who  was 
coming  along  the  road.  (Now  if  the 
maiden  had  only  known,  he  thought  her 
twice  as  lovely  with  the  child  in  her  arms ; 
but  she  did  not  know.) 

The  child  lay  in  the  dusty  road  and 
sobbed,  till  his  mother  came  along  and 
picked  him  up,  and  wiped  away  the  tears 
with  her  blue  gingham  apron. 

**  I  don't  believe  that  was  an  angel,  after 
all,"  he  said. 

"  No ! "  said  the  mother.  "  But  she  may 
be  one  some  day.     She  is  young  yet." 

"I  am  th-edl"  said  the  child.  "Will 
you  carry  me  home,  mother  ? " 


28  ABOUT   ANGELS 

"  Why,  yes ! "  said  the  mother.  "  That 
is  what  I  came  for." 

The  child  put  his  arms  round  his  mother's 
neck,  and  she  held  him  tight  and  trudged 
along  the  road,  singing  the  song  he  liked 
best. 

Suddenly  he  looked  up  in  her  face. 

"  Mother,"  he  said ;  "  I  don't  suppose 
you  could  be  an  angel,  could  you  ? " 

"Oh,  what  a  foolish  child  1"  said  the 
mother.  "Who  ever  heard  of  an  angel 
in  a  blue  gingham  apron  ? "  and  she  went 
on  singing,  and  stepped  out  so  bravely  on 
her  lame  foot  that  no  one  would  ever  have 
known  she  was  lame. 


THE  APRON-STRING 

NCE  upon  a  time  a  boy 
played  about  the  house, 
running  by  his  moth- 
er's side ;   and  as  he 
was    very  httle,    his 
mother  tied  him  to  the 
string  of  her  apron. 
"Now,"  she  said,  "when  you  stumble, 
you  can  pull   yourself  up  by  the  apron- 
string,  and  so  you  will  not  fall." 

The  boy  did  that,  and  all  went  well, 
and  the  mother  sang  at  her  work. 

By  and  by  the  boy  grew  so  tall  that  his 
head  came  above  the  window-sill;  and 
looking  through  the  window,  he  saw  far 
away  green  trees  waving,  and  a  flowing 
river  that  flashed  in  the  sun,  and  rising 
above  all,  blue  peaks  of  mountains. 

"Oh,  mother,"  he  said;  "untie  the 
apron-string  and   let  me  gol" 

But  the  mother  said,  "Not  yet,  my 
child  1   only  yesterday  you  stumbled,  and 

29 


30  THE   APRON »  STRING 

would  have  fallen  but  for  the  apron-string. 
Wait  yet  a  little,  till  you  are  stronger." 

So  the  boy  waited,  and  all  went  as  be- 
fore ;  and  the  mother  sang  at  her  work. 

But  one  day  the  boy  found  the  door  of 
the  house  standing  open,  for  it  was  spring 
weather;  and  he  stood  on  the  threshold 
and  looked  across  the  valley,  and  saw  the 
green  trees  waving,  and  the  swift-flowing 
river  with  the  sun  flashing  on  it,  and  the 
blue  mountains  rising  beyond ;  and  this 
time  he  heard  the  voice  of  the  river  call- 
ing, and  it  said  "  Come  ! " 

Then  the  boy  started  forward,  and  as 
he  started,  the  string  of  the  apron  broke, 

"  Oh !  how  weak  my  mother's  apron- 
string  is ! "  cried  the  boy ;  and  he  ran  out 
into  the  world,  with  the  broken  string 
hanging   beside   him. 

The  mother  gathered  up  the  other  end 
of  the  string  and  put  it  in  her  bosom,  and 
went  about  her  work  again ;  but  she  sang 
no  more. 

The  boy  ran  on  and  on,  rejoicing  in  his 
freedom,  and  in  the  fresh  air  and  the 
morning  sun.  He  crossed  the  valley,  and 
began  to  climb  the  foothills  among  which 


THE   APRON -STRING  31 

the  river  flowed  swiftly,  among  rocks  and 
cliffs.  Now  it  was  easy  climbing,  and 
again  it  was  steep  and  craggy,  but  always 
he  looked  upward  at  the  blue  peaks  be- 
yond, and  alw^ays  the  voice  of  the  river 
was  in  his  ears,  saying  "  Come  ! " 

By  and  by  he  came  to  the  brink  of  a 
precipice,  over  which  the  river  dashed  in 
a  cataract,  foaming  and  flashing,  and  send- 
ing up  clouds  of  silver  spray.  The  spray 
filled  his  eyes,  so  that  he  did  not  see  his 
footing  clearly;  he  grew  dizzy,  stumbled, 
and  fell.  But  as  he  fell,  something  about 
him  caught  on  a  point  of  rock  at  the 
precipice-edge,  and  held  him,  so  that  he 
hung  dangling  over  the  abyss ;  and  when 
he  put  up  his  hand  to  see  what  held  him, 
he  found  that  it  was  the  broken  string  of 
the  apron,  which  still  hung  by  his  side. 

"  Oh !  how  strong  my  mother's  apron- 
string  is ! "  said  the  boy :  and  he  drew 
himself  up  by  it,  and  stood  firm  on  his 
feet,  and  went  on  climbing  toward  the 
blue  peaks  of  the  mountains. 


THE   SHADOW 


N  Angel  heard  a  child 
crying  one  day,  and 
came  to  see  what 
ailed  it.  He  found 
the  little  one  sitting 
on  the  ground,  with 
the  sun  at  its  back 
(for  the  day  was  young),  looking  at  its 
own  shadow,  which  lay  on  the  ground 
before   it,   and   weeping   bitterly. 

"  What  ails  you,  little  one  ? "  asked  the 
Angel. 

"  The  world  is  so  dark ! "  said  the  child. 
"  See,  it  is  all  dusky  gray,  and  there  is  no 
beauty  in  it.  Why  must  I  stay  in  this 
sad,  gray  world?" 

"  Do  you  not  hear  the  birds  singing,  and 
the  other  children  calling  at  their  play?" 
asked  the  Angel. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  child ;  "  I  hear  them, 
but  I  do  not  know  where  they  are.  I 
cannot  see  them,  1  see  only  the  shadow. 

32 


THE   SHADOW  33 

Moreover,  if  they  saw  it,  they  would  not 
sing  and  call,  but  would  weep  as  I  do." 

The  Angel  lifted  the  child,  and  set  it  on 
its  feet,  with  its  face  to  the  early  sun. 

"  Look  ! "  said  the  Angel. 

The  child  brushed  away  the  tears  from 
its  eyes  and  looked.  Before  them  lay  the 
fields  all  green  and  gold,  shining  with 
dewdrops,  and  the  other  children  were 
running  to  and  fro,  laughing  and  shout- 
ing, and  crowning  one  another  with 
blossoms. 

"  Why,  there  are  the  children ! "  said  the 
little  one. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Angel ;  **  there  they 
are. 

"  And  the  sun  is  shining  I "  cried  the 
child. 

**  Yes,"  said  the  Angel ;  "  it  was  shining 
all  the  time." 

"  And  the  shadow  is  gone  I " 

"  Oh,  no ! "  said  the  Angel ;  "  the  shadow 
is  behind  you,  where  it  belongs.  Run, 
now,  and  gather  flowers  for  the  littlest 
one,  who  sits  in  the  grass  there!" 


THE   SAILOR  MAN 

NCE  upon  a  time  two  chil- 
dren came  to  the  house 
of  a    sailor   man,   who 
lived    beside    the    salt 
sea ;  and  they  found  the 
sailor  man  sitting  in  his 
doorway  knotting  ropes. 
"How  do  you  do?"   asked  the   sailor 
man. 

"  We  are  very  well,  thank  you,"  said  the 
children,  who  had  learned  manners,  "and 
we  hope  you  are  the  same.  We  heard 
that  you  had  a  boat,  and  we  thought  that 
perhaps  you  would  take  us  out  in  her,  and 
teach  us  how  to  sail,  for  that  is  what  we 
wish  most  to  know." 

"  All  in  good  time,"  said  the  sailor  man. 
"  I  am  busy  now,  but  by  and  by,  when  my 
work  is  done,  I  may  perhaps  take  one  of 
you  if  you  are  ready  to  learn.  Meantime 
here  are  some  ropes  that  need  knotting; 
you  might  be  doing  that,  since  it  has  to 

34 


THE    SAILOR    MAN. 


[Pnf/e  34. 


THE   SAILOR   MAN  35 

be  done."  And  he  showed  them  how  the 
knots  should  be  tied,  and  went  away  and 
left  them. 

When  he  was  gone  the  first  child  ran 
to  the  window  and  looked  out. 

"There  is  the  sea/'  he  said.  "The 
waves  come  up  on  the  beach,  almost 
to  the  door  of  the  house.  They  run 
up  all  white,  like  prancing  horses,  and 
then  they  go  dragging  back.  Come  and 
look  I'' 

"  I  cannot,"  said  the  second  child.  "  I 
am  tying  a  knot." 

"  Oh  ! "  cried  the  first  child,  "  I  see  the 
boat.  She  is  dancing  Uke  a  lady  at  a 
ball;  I  never  saw  such  a  beauty.  Come 
and  look!" 

"  I  cannot,"  said  the  second  child.  "  I 
am  tying  a  knot." 

"  I  shall  have  a  delightful  sail  in  that 
boat,"  said  the  first  child.  "  I  expect  that 
the  sailor  man  will  take  me,  because  I  am 
the  eldest  and  I  know  more  about  it. 
There  was  no  need  of  my  watching  when 
he  showed  you  the  knots,  because  I  knew 
how  already." 

Just  then  the  sailor  man  came  in. 


36  THE   SAILOR  MAN 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  my  work  is  over. 
What  have  you  been  doing  in  the 
meantime  ? " 

"  I  have  been  looking  at  the  boat,"  said 
the  first  child.  "  What  a  beauty  she  is  I 
I  shall  have  the  best  time  in  her  that  ever 
I  had  in  my  life." 

"I  have  been  tying  knots,"  said  the 
second  child. 

"Come,  then,"  said  the  sailor  man,  and 
he  held  out  his  hand  to  the  second  child. 
"  I  will  take  you  out  in  the  boat,  and  teach 
you  to  sail  her." 

"  But  I  am  the  eldest,"  cried  the  first 
child,  "  and  I  know  a  great  deal  more 
than  she  does." 

"  That  may  be,"  said  the  sailor  man ; 
"but  a  person  must  learn  to  tie  a  knot 
before  he  can  learn  to  sail  a  boat." 

"  But  I  have  learned  to  tie  a  knot,"  cried 
the  child.     "  I  know  all  about  it ! " 

"  How  can  I  tell  that  ?  "  asked  the  sailor 
man. 


"GO"  AND   "COME" 

ITTLE    boy,"   said    the    nurse 
one  day,   "  you  would   be  far 
better   at  work.     Your   gar- 
den   needs    weeding    sadly ; 
go  now  and  weed  it,  like 
a  good  child  I " 
But  the  little  boy  did  not  feel  like 
weeding  that  day. 

"  I  can't  do  it,"  he  said. 
"  Oh  !  yes,  you  can,"  said  the  nurse. 
"  Well,  I  don't  want  to,"  said  the  little 
boy. 

"  But  you  must  ! "  said  the  nurse. 
"Dont  be  naughty,  but  go  at  once  and 
do  your  work  as  I  bid  you ! " 

She  went  away  about  her  own  work,  for 
she  was  very  industrious ;  but  the  little  boy 
sat  still,  and  thought  himself  ill-used. 

By  and  by  his  mother  came  into  the 
room  and  saw  him. 

87 


38  **GO"   AND    "COME" 

"What  is  the  matter,  httle  boy?"  she 
asked ;  for  he  looked  Hke  a  three-days' 
rain. 

"  Nurse  told  me  to  weed  my  garden," 
said  the  little  boy. 

"  Oh,"  said  his  mother,  "  what  fun  that 
will  be !  I  love  to  weed,  and  it  is  such  a 
fine  day  !     May  n't  I  come  and  help  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes,"  said  the  little  boy.  "  You 
may."  And  they  weeded  the  garden  beau- 
tifully, and  had  a  glorious  time. 


CHILD'S   PLAY 


NCE  a  child  was  sitting 
on  a  great   log   that 
lay  by  the  roadside, 
playing ;    and    an- 
other   child    came 
along,  and  stopped  to 
speak  to  him. 
"  What    are    you    doing  ? "    asked    the 
second   child. 

"  I  am  sailing  to  the  Southern  Seas,'* 
replied  the  first,  *'to  get  a  cargo  of  mon- 
keys, and  elephant  tusks,  and  crystal  balls 
as  large  as  oranges.  Come  up  here,  and 
you  may  sail  with  me  if  you  like." 

So  the  second  child  climbed  upon  the 
log. 

"Look!"  said  the  first  child.  "See 
how  the  foam  bubbles  up  before  the  ship, 
and  trails  and  floats  away  behind !  Look ! 
the  water  is  so  clear  that  we  can  see  the 
fishes  swimming  about,  blue  and  red  and 

39 


40  CHILD'S   PLAY 

green.  There  goes  a  parrot-fish ;  my 
father  told  me  about  them.  I  should  not 
wonder  if  we  saw  a  whale  in  about  a 
minute." 

"  What  are  you  talking  about  ? "  asked 
the  second  child,  peevishly.  "  There  is  no 
water  here,  only  grass ;  and  anyhow  this 
is  nothing  but  a  log.  You  cannot  get  to 
islands  in  this  way." 

"  But  we  have  got  to  them,"  cried  the 
first  child.  "  We  are  at  them  now.  I  see 
the  palm-trees  waving,  and  the  white  sand 
glittering.  Look  1  there  are  the  natives 
gathering  to  welcome  us  on  the  beach. 
They  have  feather  cloaks,  and  necklaces, 
and  anklets  of  copper  as  red  as  gold. 
Oh !  and  there  is  an  elephant  coming 
straight   toward   us." 

"  I  should  think  you  would  be  ashamed," 
said  the  second  child.  "  That  is  Widow 
Slocum." 

"  It 's  all  the  same,"  said  the  first  child. 

Presently  the  second  child  got  down 
from  the  log. 

"I  am  going  to  play  stick-knife,"  he 
said.  "I  don't  see  any  sense  in  this.  I 
think  you  are  pretty  dull  to  play  things 


CHILD'S   PLAY  41 

that  are  n't  really  there."  And  he  walked 
slowly  away. 

The  first  child  looked  after  him  a 
moment. 

"  I  think  you  are  pretty  dull,"  he  said 
to  himself,  "  to  see  nothing  but  what  is 
under  your  nose." 

But  he  was  too  well-mannered  to  say 
this  aloud ;  and  having  taken  in  his  cargo, 
he  sailed  for  another  port. 


LITTLE    JOHN   BOTTLEJOHN 

ITTLE  John  Bottle- 
john  lived  on  the 
hill, 
And  a  blithe  little 
man  was  he. 
And    he    won    the 
heart   of  a  pretty 
mermaid 
Who  lived  in  the  deep  blue  sea. 
And  every  evening  she  used  to  sit 

And  sing  on  the  rocks  by  the  sea, 
''  Oh !   little  John  Bottlejohn,  pretty  John 
Bottlejohn, 
Won't  you  come  out  to  me  ?  '* 

Little  John  Bottlejohn  heard  her  song, 
And  he  opened  his  little  door. 

And  he  hopped  and  he  skipped,  and  he 
skipped  and  he  hopped, 
Until  he  came  down  to  the  shore. 

42 


LITTLE   JOHN   BOTTLEJOHN       43 

And  there  on  the  rocks  sat  the  little  mer- 
maid, 
And  still  she  was  singing  so  free, 
"  Oh !   little  John  Bottlejohn,  pretty  John 
Bottlejohn, 
Won't  you  come  out  to  me  ?  " 

Little  John  Bottlejohn  made  a  bow. 

And  the  mermaid,  she  made  one  too, 
And  she  said,   "  Oh !    I  never  saw  any 
one  half 

So  perfectly  sweet  as  you ! 
In  my  lovely  home  'neath  the  ocean  foam, 

How  happy  we  both  might  be ! 
Oh !    little  John  Bottlejohn,  pretty  John 
Bottlejohn, 

Won't  you  come  down  with  me  ?  " 

Little    John   Bottlejohn   said,   "  Oh   yes ! 

I  '11  willingly  go  with  you. 
And  I  never  shall  quail  at  the  sight  of 
your  tail, 

For  perhaps  I  may  grow  one  too." 
So  he  took  her  hand,  and  he  left  the  land. 

And  plunged  in  the  foaming  main. 
And  little  John  Bottlejohn,  pretty  John 
Bottlejohn, 

Never  was  seen  again. 


A  FORTUNE 

NE  day  a  man  was  walking 
along  the  street,  and  he 
was  sad  at  heart.  Busi- 
ness was  dull ;  he  had 
set  his  desire  upon  a 
horse  that  cost  a  thousand 
dollars,  and  he  had  only  eight 
hundred  to  buy  it  with.  There  were  other 
things,  to  be  sure,  that  might  be  bought 
with  eight  hundred  dollars,  but  he  did 
not  want  those ;  so  he  was  sorrowful,  and 
thought  the  world  a  bad  place. 

As  he  walked,  he  saw  a  child  running 
toward  him ;  it  was  a  strange  child,  but 
when  he  looked  at  it,  its  face  lightened 
like  sunshine,  and  broke  into  smiles.  The 
child  held  out  its  closed  hand. 

"  Guess  what  I  have  !  "  it  cried  gleefully. 
"  Something  fine,  I  am  sure  !  "  said  the 
man. 

The  child  nodded  and  drew  nearer ;  then 
opened  its  hand. 

44 


A   FORTUNE  45 

"  Look  I "  it  said  ;  and  the  street  rang 
with  its  happy  laughter.  The  man  looked, 
and  in  the  child's  hand  lay  a  penny. 

"  Hurrah  !  "  said  the  child. 

"  Hurrah  !  "  said  the  man. 

Then  they  parted,  and  the  child  went 
and  bought  a  stick  of  candy,  and  saw  all 
the  world  red  and  white  in  stripes. 

The  man  went  and  put  his  eight  hun- 
dred dollars  in  the  savings-bank,  all  but 
fifty  cents,  and  with  the  fifty  cents  he 
bought  a  hobby-horse  for  his  own  little 
boy,  and  the  little  boy  saw  all  the  world 
brown,  with  white  spots. 

"  Is  this  the  horse  you  wanted  so  to 
buy,  father  ?  "  asked  the  little  boy. 

"  It  is  the.  horse  I  have  bought  1 "  said 
the  man. 

"  Hurrah  1 "  said  the  little  boy. 

"  Hurrah  !  "  said  the  man.  And  he  saw 
that  the  world  was  a  good  place  after  all. 


THE   STARS 


LITTLE  dear  child  lay  in  its 
crib  andjsobbed,  because  it  was 
afraid  of  the  dark.  And  its 
father,  in  the  room  below,  heard 
the  sobs,  irfid  came  up,  and  said, 
"  What  jails  you,  my  dearie, 
and  why  do  you  cry  ? " 
And  the  child  said,  "  Oh,  father,  I  am 
afraid  of  the  dark.^  Nurse  says  I  am  too 
big  to  have  a  taper ;  but  all  the  corners 
are  full  of  dreadful  blackness,  and  I  think 
there  are  Things  in  them  with  eyes,  that 
would  look  at  me  if  I  looked  at  them; 
and  if  they  looked  at  me  I  should  die. 
Oh,  father,  why  is  it  dark?  why  is  there 
such  a  terrible  thing  as  darkness  ?  why 
cannot   it   be   always   day  ? " 

The  father  took  the  child  in  his  arms 
and  carried  it  downstairs  and  out  into  the 
summer  night. 

46 


THE   STARS  47 

"  Look  up,  dearie  ! "  he  said,  in  his  strong, 
kind  voice.  "  Look  up,  and  see  God's 
httle  hghts!" 

The  little  one  looked  up,  and  saw^  the 
stars,  spangling  the  blue  veil  of  the  sky ; 
bright  as  candles  they  burned,  and  yellow 
as  gold. 

"  Oh,  father,"  cried  the  child  ;  **  what  are 
thoiSfe  lovely  things  ? " 

"  Those  are  stars',"  said  the  father. 
"Those   are   God's   little   lights." 

"  But  why  have  I  never  seen  them  be- 
fore?" 

"  Because  you  are  a  very  little  child,  and 
have  never  been  out  in  the  night  before."  -  ' 

"  Can  I  see  the  stars  only  at  night, 
father  ? " 

"  Only  at  night,  my  child  ! " 

"  Do  they  only  come  then,  father  ? " 

"No;  they  are  always  there,  but  we 
cannot  see  them  when  the  sun  is  shining." 

"  But,  father,  the  darkness  is  not  terrible 
here,  it  is  beautiful ! " 

"  Yes,  dearie ;  the  darkness  is  always 
beautiful,  if  we  will  only  look  up  at  the 
stars,  .instead  of  into  the  corners." 


BUTTERCUP  GOLD 


H  !  the  cupperty-buts  ! 
and  oh!  the  cup- 
perty-buts !  out  in 
the  meadow,  shining 
under  the  trees,  and 
sparkling  over  the 
lawn,  milHons  and 
millions  of  them, 
each  one  a  bit  of  pur- 
est gold  from  Mother  Nature's  mint.  Jessy 
stood  at  the  window,  looking  out  at  them, 
and  thinking,  as  she  often  had  thought 
before,  that  there  were  no  flowers  so 
beautiful.  "  Cupperty-buts,"  she  had 
been  used  to  call  them,  when  she  was  a 
wee  baby-girl  and  could  not  speak  without 
tumbling  over  her  words  and  mixing  them 
up  in  the  queerest  fashion;  and  now  that 
she  was  a  very  great  girl,  actually  six 
years  old,  they  were  still  cupperty-buts 
to  her,  and  would  never  be  anything  else. 


48 


BUTTERCUP  GOLD       49 

she  said.  There  was  nothing  she  liked 
better  than  to  watch  the  lovely  golden 
things,  and  nod  to  them  as  they  nodded 
to  her;  but  this  morning  her  little  face 
looked  anxious  and  troubled,  and  she 
gazed  at  the  flowers  with  an  intent  and  in- 
quiring look,  as  if  she  had  expected  them 
to  reply  to  her  unspoken  thoughts.  What 
these  thoughts  were  I  am  going  to  tell  you. 

Half  an  hour  before,  she  had  called 
to  her  mother,  who  was  just  going  out, 
and  begged  her  to  come  and  look  at  the 
cupperty-buts. 

**  They  are  brighter  than  ever,  Mamma ! 
Do  just  come  and  look  at  them !  golden, 
golden,  golden !  There  must  be  fifteen 
thousand  million  dollars'  worth  of  gold 
just  on  the  lawn,  I  should  think." 

And  her  mother,  pausing  to  look  out, 
said,  very  sadly,  — 

"  Ah,  my  darling !  if  I  only  had  this 
day  a  little  of  that  gold,  what  a  happy 
woman  I  should  be !  " 

And  then  the  good  mother  went  out, 
and  there  little  Jessy  stood,  gazing  at 
the  flowers,  and  repeating  the  words  to 
herself,  over  and  over  again,  — 


50  BUTTERCUP   GOLD 

"  If  I  only  had  a  little  of  that  gold !  " 

She  knew  that  her  mother  was  very, 
very  poor,  and  had  to  go  out  to  work  every 
day  to  earn  food  and  clothes  for  herself 
and  her  little  daughter;  and  the  child's 
tender  heart  ached  to  think  of  the  sadness 
in  the  dear  mother's  look  and  tone.  Sud- 
denly Jessy  started,  and  the  sunshine 
flashed  into  her  face. 

*' Why  !"  she  exclaimed,  "why  should  n't 
I  get  some  of  the  gold  from  the  cupperty- 
buts  ?  I  believe  I  could  get  some,  perfectly 
well.  When  Mamma  wants  to  get  the 
juice  out  of  anything,  meat,  or  fruit,  or 
anything  of  that  sort,  she  just  boils  it. 
And  so,  if  I  should  boil  the  cupperty-buts, 
would  n't  all  the  gold  come  out  ?  Of 
course  it  would !  Oh,  joy !  how  pleased 
Mamma  will  be  !  " 

Jessy's  actions  always  followed  her 
thoughts  with  great  rapidity.  In  five 
minutes  she  was  out  on  the  lawn,  with 
a  huge  basket  beside  her,  pulling  away 
at  the  buttercups  with  might  and  main. 
Oh !  how  small  they  were,  and  how  long 
it  took  even  to  cover  the  bottom  of  the 
basket.     But  Jessy  worked  with  a-  will, 


BUTTERCUP   GOLD  51 

and  at  the  end  of  an  hour  she  had  picked 
enough  to  make  at  least  a  thousand 
dollars,  as  she  calculated.  That  would 
do  for  one  day,  she  thought;  and  now 
for  the  grand  experiment  1  Before  going 
out  she  had  with  much  labor  filled  the 
great  kettle  with  water,  so  now  the  water 
was  boiling,  and  she  had  only  to  put  the 
buttercups  in  and  put  the  cover  on.  When 
this  was  done,  she  sat  as  patiently  as  she 
could,  trying  to  pay  attention  to  her 
knitting,  and  not  to  look  at  the  clock 
oftener  than  every  two  minutes. 

"  They  must  boil  for  an  hour,"  she  said ; 
**  and  by  that  time  all  the  gold  will  have 
come  out." 

Well,  the  hour  did  pass,  somehow  or 
other,  though  it  was  a  very  long  one; 
and  at  eleven  o'clock,  Jessy,  with  a  mighty 
effort,  lifted  the  kettle  from  the  stove  and 
carried  it  to  the  open  door,  that  the  fresh 
air  might  cool  the  boiling  water.  At  first, 
when  she  lifted  the  cover,  such  a  cloud 
of  steam  came  out  that  she  could  see 
nothing ;  but  in  a  moment  the  wind  blew 
the  steam  aside,  and  then  she  saw,  —  oh, 
poor  little   Jessy !  —  she  saw  a  mass  of 


52  BUTTERCUP   GOLD 

weeds  floating  about  in  a  quantity  of 
dirty,  greenish  water,  and  that  was  all. 
Not  the  smallest  trace  of  gold,  even  in  the 
buttercups  themselves,  was  to  be  seen. 
Poor  little  Jessy !  she  tried  hard  not  to 
cry,  but  it  was  a  bitter  disappointment; 
the  tears  came  rolling  down  her  cheeks 
faster  and  faster,  till  at  length  she  sat 
down  by  the  kettle,  and,  burying  her  face 
in  her  apron,  sobbed  as  if  her  heart  would 
break. 

Presently,  through  her  sobs,  she  heard 
a  kind  voice  saying,  "  What  is  the  matter, 
little  one  ?  Why  do  you  cry  so  bitterly  ?  " 
She  looked  up  and  saw  an  old  gentleman 
with  white  hair  and  a  bright,  cheery  face, 
standing  by  her.  At  first,  Jessy  could  say 
nothing  but  "  Oh !  the  cupperty-buts ! 
oh  !  the  cupperty-buts !  "  but,  of  course, 
the  old  gentleman  didn't  know  what  she 
meant  by  that,  so,  as  he  urged  her  to  tell 
him  about  her  trouble,  she  dried  her  eyes, 
and  told  him  the  melancholy  little  story: 
how  her  mother  was  very  poor,  and  said 
she  wished  she  had  some  gold;  and  how 
she  herself  had  tried  to  get  the  gold  out 
of  the  buttercups  by  boiling  them.     "  I 


BUTTERCUP   GOLD  53 

was  so  sure  I  could  get  it  out,"  she  said, 
"  and  I  thought  Mamma  would  be  so 
pleased  !    And  now  —  " 

Here  she  was  very  near  breaking  down 
again ;  but  the  gentleman  patted  her  head 
and  said,  cheerfully,  "  Wait  a  bit,  little 
woman !  Don't  give  up  the  ship  yet. 
You  know  that  gold  is  heavy,  very  heavy 
indeed,  and  if  there  were  any  it  would  be 
at  the  very  bottom  of  the  kettle,  all  covered 
with  the  weeds,  so  that  you  could  not  see 
it.  I  should  not  be  at  all  surprised  if 
you  found  some,  after  all.  Run  into  the 
house  and  bring  me  a  spoon  with  a  long 
handle,  and  we  will  fish  in  the  kettle,  and 
see  what  we  can  find." 

Jessy's  face  brightened,  and  she  ran 
into  the  house.  If  any  one  had  been 
standing  near  just  at  that  moment,  I 
think  it  is  possible  that  he  might  have  seen 
the  old  gentleman's  hand  go  into  his  pocket 
and  out  again  very  quickly,  and  might 
have  heard  a  little  splash  in  the  kettle; 
but  nobody  was  near,  so,  of  course,  I 
cannot  say  anything  about  it.  At  any  rate, 
when  Jessy  came  out  with  the  spoon,  he 
was  standing  with  both  hands  in  his  pockets, 


54  BUTTERCUP   GOLD 

looking  in  the  opposite  direction.  He 
took  the  great  iron  spoon  and  fished  about 
in  the  kettle  for  some  time.  At  last  there 
was  a  little  clinking  noise,  and  the  old 
gentleman  lifted  the  spoon.  Oh,  wonder 
and  delight !  In  it  lay  three  great,  broad, 
shining  pieces  of  gold  !  Jessy  could  hardly 
believe  her  eyes.  She  stared  and  stared ; 
and  when  the  old  gentleman  put  the  gold 
into  her  hand,  she  still  stood  as  if  in  a 
happy  dream,  gazing  at  it.  Suddenly  she 
started,  and  remembered  that  she  had 
not  thanked  her  kindly  helper.  She  looked 
up,  and  began,  "Thank  you,  sir;"  but 
the  old  gentleman  was  gone. 

Well,  the  next  question  was.  How  could 
Jessy  possibly  wait  till  twelve  o'clock  for 
her  mother  to  come  home  ?  Knitting  was 
out  of  the  question.  She  could  do  nothing 
but  dance  and  look  out  of  window,  and 
look  out  of  window  and  dance,  holding 
the  precious  coins  tight  in  her  hand.  At 
last,  a  well-known  footstep  was  heard 
outside  the  door,  and  Mrs.  Gray  came  in, 
looking  very  tired  and  worn.  She  smiled, 
however,  when  she  saw  Jessy,  and  said,  — 

*'  Well,  my  darling,  I  am  glad  to  see 


BUTTERCUP   GOLD  55 

you  looking  so  bright.  How  has  the  morn- 
ing gone  with  my  little  housekeeper  ?  " 

**  Oh,  mother !  "  cried  Jessy,  hopping 
about  on  one  foot,  *'  it  has  gone  very  well ! 
oh,  very,  very,  very  well !  Oh,  my  mother 
dear,  what  do  you  think  I  have  got  in 
my  hand?  What  do  you  think?  oh, 
what  do  you  think  ?  "  and  she  went  dancing 
round  and  round,  till  poor  Mrs.  Gray 
was  quite  dizzy  with  watching  her.  At 
last  she  stopped,  and  holding  out  her  hand, 
opened  it  and  showed  her  mother  what 
was  in  it.    Mrs.  Gray  was  really  frightened. 

"  Jessy,  my  child  !  "  she  cried,  **  where 
did  you  get  all  that  money  ?  " 

**  Out  of  the  cupperty-buts.  Mamma !  " 
said  Jessy,  "  out  of  the  cupperty-buts ! 
and  it 's  all  for  you,  every  bit  of  it !  Dear 
Mamma,  now  you  will  be  happy,  will 
you  not  ?  " 

"  Jessy,'*  said  Mrs.  Gray,  "  have  you 
lost  your  senses,  or  are  you  playing  some 
trick  on  me  ?  Tell  me  all  about  this  at 
once,  dear  child,  and  don't  talk  nonsense." 

*'  But  it  is  n't  nonsense.  Mamma !  " 
cried  Jessy,  "  and  it  did  come  out  of  the 
cupperty-buts !  " 


56  BUTTERCUP   GOLD 

And  then  she  told  her  mother  the  whole 
story.  The  tears  came  into  Mrs.  Gray's 
eyes,  but  they  were  tears  of  joy  and  grati- 
tude. 

"  Jessy  dear,"  she  said,  "  when  we  say 
our  prayers  at  night,  let  us  never  forget 
to  pray  for  that  good  gentleman.  May 
Heaven  bless  him  and  reward  him !  for 
if  it  had  not  been  for  him,  Jessy  dear,  I 
fear  you  would  never  have  found  the 
'  Buttercup  Gold.'  " 


THE   PATIENT   CAT 

HEN  the  spotted  cat 
first  found  the  nest, 
there  was  nothing  in 
it,  for  it  was  only  just 
finished.  So  she  said, 
"  I  will  wait !  "  for  she  was  a  patient  cat, 
and  the  summer  was  before  her.  She  waited 
a  week,  and  then  she  climbed  up  again  to 
the  top  of  the  tree,  and  peeped  into  the  nest. 
There  lay  two  lovely  blue  eggs,  smooth  and 
shining. 

The  spotted  cat  said,  "  Eggs  may  be 
good,  but  young  birds  are  better.  I  will 
wait."  So  she  waited;  and  while  she 
was  waiting,  she  caught  mice  and  rats, 
and  washed  herself  and  slept,  and  did 
all  that  a  spotted  cat  should  do  to  pass 
the  time  away. 

"WTien  another  week  had  passed,  she 
climbed  the  tree  again  and  peeped  into  the 


58  THE  PATIENT   CAT 

nest.  This  time  there  were  five  eggs. 
But  the  spotted  cat  said  again,  "  Eggs 
may  be  good,  but  young  birds  are  better. 
I  will  wait  a  little  longer  !  " 

So  she  waited  a  little  longer  and  then 
went  up  again  to  look.  Ah !  there  were 
five  tiny  birds,  with  big  eyes  and  long 
necks,  and  yellow  beaks  wide  open.  Then 
the  spotted  cat  sat  down  on  the  branch, 
and  licked  her  nose  and  purred,  for  she 
was  very  happy.  "It  is  worth  while  to 
be  patient !  "  she  said. 

But  when  she  looked  again  at  the  young 
birds,  to  see  which  one  she  should  take 
first,  she  saw  that  they  were  very  thin,  — 
oh,  very,  very  thin  they  were  !  The  spotted 
cat  had  never  seen  anything  so  thin  in  her 
Hfe. 

"  Now,"  she  said  to  herself,  "  if  I  were 
to  wait  only  a  few  days  longer,  they 
would  grow  fat.  Thin  birds  may  be  good, 
but  fat  birds  are  much  better.  I  will 
wait !  " 

So  she  waited;  and  she  watched  the 
father-bird  bringing  worms  all  day  long 
to  the  nest,  and  said,  "  Aha !  they  must 
be  fattening  fast!    they  will  soon  be  as 


THE   PATIENT   CAT  59 

lilt  as  I  wish  them  to  be.  Aha!  what  a 
good  thing  it  is  to  be  patient." 

At  last,  one  day  she  thought,  "  Surely, 
now  they  must  be  fat  enough !  I  will  not 
wait  another  day.  Aha!  how  good  they 
will  be !  " 

So  she  climbed  up  the  tree,  licking  her 
chops  all  the  way  and  thinking  of  the  fat 
young  birds.  And  when  she  reached 
the  top  and  looked  into  the  nest,  it  was 
empty ! ! 

Then  the  spotted  cat  sat  down  on  the 
branch  and  spoke  thus,  *'  Well,  of  all  the 
horrid,  mean,  ungrateful  creatures  I  ever 
saw,  those  birds  are  the  horridest,  and 
the  meanest,  and  the  most  ungrateful ! 
Mi-a-u-ow  11 ! !  " 


ALICE'S   SUPPER 

AR  down  in  the  meadow 
the    wheat    grows 
green, 
And  the  reapers  are 
whetting  their  sickles 
so  keen ; 
And  this  is  the  song  that 
I  hear  them  sing, 
While  cheery  and  loud  their  voices  ring: 
"  'T  is  the  finest  wheat  that  ever  did  grow  ! 
And  it  is  for  Alice's  supper,  ho !    ho !  " 

Far  down  in  the  valley  the  old  mill  stands, 
And  the  miller  is  rubbing  his  dusty  white 

hands ; 
And  these  are  the  words  of  the  miller's  lay. 
As  he  watches  the  millstones  a-grinding 

away: 
**  'T  is  the  finest  flour  that  money  can  buy, 
And  it  is  for  Alice's  supper,  hi !   hi !  " 

60 


ALICE'S   SUPPER  61 

Downstairs  in   the  kitchen  the  fire  doth 

glow. 
And   Maggie  is  kneading  the  soft  white 

dough. 
And   this   is   the  song   that  she 's  singing 

to-day. 
While  merry  and  busy  she 's  working  away : 
"  'T  is  the  finest  dough,  by  near  or  by  far. 
And  it  is  for  Alice's  supper,  ha  !   ha !  '* 

And   now   to   the   nursery  comes   Nannie 

at  last, 
And  what  in  her  hand  is  she  bringing  so 

fast  ? 
'Tis  a  plate  full  of  something  all  yellow 

and  white, 
And  she  sings  as  she  comes  with  her  smile 

so  bright: 
"  'T  is   the   best   bread-and-butter  I  ever 

did  see ! 
And  it  is  for  Alice's  supper,  he !    he !  " 


THE  QUACKY  DUCK 

HE  Quacky  Duck 
stood  on  the  bank  of 
the  stream.  And  the 
frogs  came  and  sat  on 
stones  and  insulted  him. 
Now  the  words  which 
the  frogs  used  were 
these,  — 

"  Ya !  ha !  he  has  n*t  any  hind-legs ! 
Ya !  ha  !  he  has  n't  any  fore-legs ! 
Oh  !  what  horrid  luck 
To  be  a  Quacky  Duck ! " 

These  were  not  pleasant  words.  And 
when  the  Quacky  Duck  heard  them,  he 
considered  within  himself  whether  it  would 
not  be  best  for  him  to  eat  the  frogs. 

"  Two  good  things  would  come  of  it," 
he  said.    "  I  should  have  a  savoury  meal, 


THE   QUACKY   DUCK  63 

and  their  remarks  would  no  longer  be 
audible." 

So  he  fell  upon  the  frogs,  and  they  fled 
before  him.  And  one  jumped  into  the 
water,  and  one  jumped  on  the  land,  and 
another  jumped  into  the  reeds;  for  such 
is  their  manner.  But  one  of  them,  being 
in  fear,  saw  not  clearly  the  way  he  should 
go,  and  jumped  even  upon  the  back  of  the 
Quacky  Duck.  Now,  this  displeased  the 
Quacky  Duck,  and  he  said,  "  If  you  will 
remove  yourself  from  my  person,  we  will 
speak  further  of  this." 

So  the  frog,  being  also  willing,  strove 
to  remove  himself,  and  the  result  was  that 
they  two,  being  on  the  edge  of  the  bank, 
fell  into  the  water.  Then  the  frog  departed 
swiftly,  saying,  "  Solitude  is  best  for 
meditation." 

But  the  Quacky  Duck,  having  hit  his 
head  against  a  stone,  sank  to  the  bottom 
of  the  pond,  where  he  found  himself  in 
the  frogs'  kitchen.  And  there  he  spied 
a  fish,  which  the  frogs  had  caught  for 
their  dinner,  intending  to  share  it  in  a 
brotherly  manner,  for  it  was  a  savoury 
fish.     When  the  Quacky  Duck  saw  it,  he 


64     *  THE    QUACKY   DUCK 

was  glad ;  and  he  said,  *'  Fish  is  better 
than  frog  "  (for  he  was  an  English  duck)  ! 
And,  taking  the  fish,  he  swam  with  speed 
to  the  shore. 

Now  the  frogs  lamented  when  they  saw 
him  go,  for  they  said,  *'  He  has  our  savoury 
fish !  "  And  they  wept,  and  reviled  the 
Quacky  Duck. 

But  he  said,  *'  Be  comforted !  for  if  I 
had  not  found  the  fish,  I  should  assuredly 
have  eaten  you.  Therefore,  say  now, 
which  is  the  better  for  you  ?  "  And  he 
ate  the  fish,  and  departed  joyful. 


AT  THE  LITTLE  BOY'S  HOME 

T  was  a  very  hot  day, 
and  the  little  boy  was 
lying  on  his  stomach 
under  the  big  linden 
tree,  reading  the  '*  Scot- 
tish Chiefs." 

"Little  Boy,"  said  his 
mother,  "will  you  please  go  out  in  the  gar- 
den and  bring  me  a  head  of  lettuce  ?  " 

"Oh,  I  — can't!"  said  the  Httle  boy. 
"I'm  — too  — feo^'" 

The  little  boy's  father  happened  to  be 
close  by,  weeding  the  geranium  bed;  and 
when  he  heard  this,  he  lifted  the  little  boy 
gently  by  his  waistband,  and  dipped  him 
in  the  great  tub  of  water  that  stood  ready 
for  watering  the  plants. 

"  There,  my  son ! "  said  the  father. 
"  Now  you  are  cool  enough  to  go  and  get 
the  lettuce;   but  remember  next  time  that 

65 


66     AT  THE   LITTLE   BOY'S   HOME 

it  will  be  easier  to  go  at  once  when  you 
are  told,  as  then  you  will  not  have  to  change 
your  clothes." 

The  little  boy  went  drip,  drip,  dripping 
out  into  the  garden  and  brought  the  lettuce ; 
then  he  went  drip,  drip,  dripping  into  the 
house  and  changed  his  clothes;  but  he 
said  never  a  word,  for  he  knew  there  was 
nothing  to  say. 

That  is  the  way  they  do  things  where 
the  little  boy  lives.  Would  you  like  to 
live  there  .^  Perhaps  not;  yet  he  is  a 
happy  little  boy,  and  he  is  learning  the 
truth  of  the  old  saying,  — 

"  Come  when  you  're  called,  do  as  you  *re  bid, 
Shut  the  door  after  you,  and  you  '11  never  be  chid." 


NEW   YEAR 

HE  little  sweet  Child  tied 
on  her  hood,  and  put 
on  her  warm  cloak  and 
mittens.  "  I  am  going 
to  the  wood,"  she  said, 
"  to  tell  the  creatures  all 
about  it.  They  cannot 
understand  about  Christmas,  mamma  says, 
and  of  course  she  knows,  but  I  do  think 
they  ought  to  know  about  New  Year !  " 

Out  in  the  wood  the  snow  lay  light  and 
powdery  on  the  branches,  but  under  foot  it 
made  a  firm,  smooth  floor,  over  which 
the  Child  could  walk  lightly  without 
sinking  in.  She  saw  other  footprints 
beside  her  own,  tiny  bird-tracks,  little 
hopping  marks,  which  showed  where  a 
rabbit  had  taken  his  way,  traces  of  mice 
and  squirrels  and  other  little  wild-wood 
beasts. 

67 


68  NEW   YEAR 

The  child  stood  under  a  great  hemlock- 
tree,  and  looked  up  toward  the  clear  blue 
sky,  which  shone  far  away  beyond  the 
dark  tree-tops.  She  spread  her  hands 
abroad  and  called,  "  Happy  New  Year ! 
Happy  New  Year  to  everybody  in  the 
wood,  and  all  over  the  world !  " 

A  rustling  was  heard  in  the  hemlock 
branches,  and  a  striped  squirrel  peeped 
down  at  her.  "  What  do  you  mean  by 
that,  little  Child  ?  "  he  asked.  And  then 
from  all  around  came  other  squirrels, 
came  little  field-mice,  and  hares  swiftly 
leaping,  and  all  the  winter  birds,  titmouse 
and  snow-bird,  and  many  another;  and 
they  all  wanted  to  know  what  the  Child 
meant  by  her  greeting,  for  they  had  never 
heard  the  words  before. 

"  It  means  that  God  is  giving  us 
another  year !  "  said  the  Child.  "  Four 
more  seasons,  each  lovelier  than  the  last, 
just  as  it  was  last  year.  Flowers  will  bud, 
and  then  they  will  blossom,  and  then  the 
fruit  will  hang  all  red  and  golden  on  the 
branches,  fof  birds  and  men  and  little 
children  to  eat."  "  And  squirrels,  too  !  " 
cried  the  chipmunk,  eagerly. 


NEW   YEAR  69 

"  Of  course !  "  said  the  Child.  "  Squir- 
rels, too,  and  every  creature  that  lives  in 
the  good  green  wood.  And  this  is  not 
all !  We  can  do  over  again  the  things  that 
we  tried  to  do  last  year,  and  perhaps 
failed  in  doing.  We  have  another  chance 
to  be  good  and  kind,  to  do  little  loving 
things  that  help,  and  to  cure  ourselves 
of  doing  naughty  things.  Our  hearts 
can  have  lovely  new  seasons,  like  the 
flowers  and  trees  and  all  the  sweet  things 
that  grow  and  bear  leaves  and  fruit.  I 
thought  I  would  come  and  tell  you  all 
this,  because  sometimes  one  does  not 
think  of  things  till  one  hears  them  from 
another's  Hps.  Are  you  glad  I  came.^ 
If  you  are  glad,  say  Happy  New  Year ! 
each  in  his  own  way !  I  say  it  to  you  all 
now  in  my  way.  Happy  New  Year ! 
,  Happy  New  Year  !  " 

Such  a  noise  as  broke  out  then  had  never 
been  heard  in  the  wood  since  the  oldest 
hemlock  was  a  baby,  and  that  was  a  long 
time  ago.  Chirping,  twittering,  squeak- 
ing, chattering !  The  wood-doves  lit  on 
the  Child's  shoulder  and  cooed  in  her  ear, 
and  she  knew  just  what  they  said.     The 


70  NEW   YEAR 

squirrels  made  a  long  speech,  and  meant 
every  word  of  it,  which  is  more  than 
people  always  do;  the  field-mouse  said 
that  she  was  going  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf, 
the  very  biggest  cabbage-leaf  she  could 
find ;  while  the  titmouse  invited  the  whole 
company  to  dine  with  him,  a  thing  he 
had  never  done  in  his  life  before. 

When  the  Child  turned  to  leave  the 
wood,  the  joyful  chorus  followed  her, 
and  she  went,  smiling,  home  and  told  her 
mother  all  about  it.  "  And,  mother," 
she  said,  **  I  should  not  be  surprised  if 
they  had  got  a  little  bit  of  Christmas,  after 
all,  along  with  their  New  Year !  " 


JACKY   FROST 

|ACKY   Frost,   Jacky 
Frost, 

Came  in  the  night; 
Left  the  meadows  that 
he  crossed 
All  gleaming  white. 
Painted  with  his  silver  brush 

Every  window-pane ; 
Kissed    the    leaves    and    made    them 
blush, 
Blush  and  blush  again. 

Jacky  Frost,  Jacky  Frost, 

Crept  around  the  house, 
Sly  as  a  silver  fox. 

Still  as  a  mouse. 
Out  little  Jenny  came. 

Blushing  like  a  rose; 
Up  jumped  Jacky  Frost, 

And  pinched  her  little  nose.      ^ 

7X 


THE   CAKE 

^CE  a  Cake  would  go 
seek  his  fortune  in  the 
world,  and  he  took  his 
leave  of  the  Pan  he  was 
baked  in. 

"  I  know  my  destiny,'* 
said  the  Cake.  "  I  must 
be  eaten,  since  to  that  end  I  was  made  ; 
but  I  am  a  good  cake,  if  I  say  it  who 
should  not,  and  I  would  fain  choose  the 
persons  I  am  to  benefit." 

"  1  don't  see  what  difference  it  makes  to 
you  I "  said  the  Pan. 

"  But  imagination  is  hardly  your  strong 
point  1 "  said  the  Cake. 
"  Huh  1 "  said  the  Pan. 
The  Cake  went  on  his  way,  and  soon  he 
passed  by  a  cottage  door  where  sat  a 
woman  spinning,  and  her  ten  children  play- 
ing about  her. 

"  Oh  1 "  said  the  woman,  "  what  a  beauti- 

72 


THE   CAKE  73 

ful  cake ! "  and  she  put  out  her  hand  to 
take  him. 

"  Be  so  good  as  to  wait  a  moment  1 " 
said  the  Cake.  "  Will  you  kindly  tell  me 
what  you  would  do  with  me  if  I  should 
yield  myself  up  to  you  ?  " 

"  I  shall  break  you  into  ten  pieces,"  said 
the  woman,  "  and  give  one  to  each  of  my 
ten  children.  So  you  will  give  ten  pleas- 
ures, and  that  is  a  good  thing." 

"  Oh,  that  would  be  very  nice,  I  am 
sure,"  said  the  Cake ;  "  but  if  you  will  ex- 
cuse me  for  mentioning  it,  your  children 
seem  rather  dirty,  especially  their  hands, 
and  I  confess  I  should  like  to  keep  my 
frosting  unsullied,  so  I  think  I  will  go  a 
little  further." 

"  As  you  will ! "  said  the  woman.  "  After 
all,  the  brown  loaf  is  better  for  the  chil- 
dren." 

So  the  Cake  went  further,  and  met  a  fair 
child,  richly  dressed,  with  coral  Ups  and 
eyes  like  sunlit  water.  When  the  child 
saw  the  Cake,  he  said  like  the  woman, 
"  Oh,  what  a  beautiful  Cake  I "  and  put  out 
bis  hand  to  take  it. 


74  THE   CAKE 

"  I  am  sure  I  should  be  most  happy ! " 
said  the  Cake.  "  And  you  will  not  take  it 
amiss,  I  am  confident,  if  I  ask  with  whom 
you  will  share  me," 

"  I  shall  not  share  you  with  any  one  I " 
said  the  child.  "  I  shall  eat  you  myself, 
every  crumb.     What  do  you  take  me  for  ?  " 

"  Good  gracious  I "  cried  the  Cake.  "  This 
will  never  do.  Consider  my  size,  —  and 
yours  !     You  would  be  very  ill ! " 

"  I  don't  care  !  "  said  the  child.  "  1  'd 
rather  be  ill  than  give  any  away."  And 
he  fixed  greedy  eyes  on  the  Cake,  and 
stretched  forth  his  hand  again. 

"  This  is  really  terrible  I  "  cried  the  Cake. 
"  What  is  one's  frosting  to  this  ?  I  will  go 
back  to  the  woman  with  the  ten  children." 

He  turned  and  ran  back,  leaving  the 
child  screaming  with  rage  and  disappointed 
greed.  But  as  he  ran,  a  hungry  Puppy 
met  him,  and  swallowed  him  at  a  gulp, 
and  went  on  licking  his  chops  and  wagging 
his  tail. 

"  Huh  1 "  said  the  Pan. 


OH,    DEAR!'* 

HIMBORAZO  was  a  very 
unhappy    boy.      He 
pouted,  and   he  sulked, 
and  he  said ,  *'  O  h,  dear ! 
oh,  dear !   oh,  dear  !    oh, 
dear!"     He   said   it  till 
everybody  was    tired    of 
hearing  it. 
"  Chimborazo,"    his  mother  would  say, 
"  please  don't  say,  '  Oh,  dear  ! '  any  more. 
It  is  very  annoying.    Say  something  else." 
**  Oh,  dear !  "   the  boy  would  answer, 
**  I  can't !     I  don't  know  anything  else  to 
say.    Oh,  dear  !  Oh,  dear!!  oh,  dear  ! ! !  " 
One  day  his  mother  could  not  bear  it 
any  longer,  and  she  sent  for  his  fairy  god- 
mother, and  told  her  all  about  it. 

"  Humph !  "  said  the  fairy  godmother. 

"  I  will  see  to  it.    Send  the  boy  to  me !  " 

So  Chimborazo  was  sent  for,  and  came, 

hanging   his   head    as    usual.      When   he 

saw  his  fairy  godmother,  he  said,  **  Oh, 

76 


76  "OH,   DEAR!" 

dear !  "  for  he  was  rather  afraid  of  her. 

"  '  Oh,  dear ! '  it  is !  "  said  the  god- 
mother sharply;  and  she  put  on  her 
spectacles  and  looked  at  him.  "  Do 
you  know  what  a  bell-punch  is  ?  " 

"  Oh,  dear !  "  said  Chimborazo.  "  No, 
ma'am,  I  don't !  " 

"  Well,"  said  the  godmother,  "  I  am 
going  to  give  you  one." 

"  Oh,  dear !  "  said  Chimborazo,  "  I 
don't  want  one." 

"  Probably  not,"  replied  she,  *'  but  that 
does  n't  make  much  difference.  You  have 
it  now,  in  your  jacket  pocket." 

Chimborazo  felt  in  his  pocket,  and  took 
out  a  queer-looking  instrument  of  shining 
metal.     *'  Oh,  dear  !  "  he  said. 

"  '  Oh,  dear !  '  it  is !  "  said  the  fairy 
godmather.  "  Now,"  she  continued, 
**  listen  to  me,  Chimborazo !  I  am  going 
to  put  you  on  an  allowance  of  *  Oh,  dears.' 
This  is  a  self-acting  bell-punch,  and  it 
will  ring  whenever  you  say  *  Oh,  dear ! ' 
How  many  times  do  you  generally  say 
it  in  the  course  of  the  day  ?  " 

"  Oh,  dear !  "  said  Chimborazo,  "  I 
don't  know.    Oh,  dear!  " 


"OH,   DEAR!"  77 

''Ting!  ting!''  the  bell-punch  rang 
twice  sharply;  and  looking  at  it  in  dis- 
may, he  saw  two  little  round  holes  punched 
in  a  long  slip  of  pasteboard  which  was 
fastened  to  the  instrument. 

"Exactly!"  said  the  fairy.  "That 
is  the  way  it  works,  and  a  very  pretty 
way,  too.  Now,  my  boy,  I  am  going  to 
make  you  a  very  liberal  allowance.  You 
may  say  *  Oh,  dear ! '  forty-five  times  a 
day.    There 's  liberality  for  you  !  " 

"  Oh,  dear  !  "  cried  Chimborazo,  "  I  — " 

"  Ting!  "  said  the  bell-punch. 

"  You  see  ! "  observed  the  fairy.  **  Noth- 
ing could  be  prettier.  You  have  now 
had  three  of  this  day's  allowance.  It  is 
still  some  hours  before  noon,  so  I  advise 
you  to  be  careful.  If  you  exceed  the 
allowance  —  "  Here  she  paused,  and 
glowered  through  her  spectacles  in  a 
very  dreadful  manner. 

"  Oh,  dear  !  "  cried  Chimborazo.  "  What 
will  happen  then  ?  " 

**  You  will  see !  "  said  the  fairy  god- 
mother, with  a  nod.  "  Something  will 
happen,  you  may  be  very  sure  of  that. 
Good-by.     Remember,   only   forty-five  !  " 


78  "OH,   DEAR!" 

And   away  she   flew  out  of  the  window. 

"  Oh,  dear !  "  cried  Chimborazo,  burst- 
ing into  tears.  "  I  don't  want  it !  I  won't 
have  it!  Oh,  dear!  oh,  dear!  oh,  dear! 
oh,  dear  !  oh,  dear  ! ! !  " 

*'  Ting  !  ting  !  ting  -  ting  -  ting  -  ting  I  " 
said  the  bell-punch;  and  now  there  were 
ten  round  holes  in  the  strip  of  pasteboard. 
Chimborazo  was  now  really  frightened. 
He  was  silent  for  some  time;  and  when 
his  mother  called  him  to  his  lessons  he 
tried  very  hard  not  to  say  the  dangerous 
words.  But  the  habit  was  so  strong  that 
he  said  them  unconsciously.  By  dinner- 
time there  were  twenty-five  holes  in  the 
cardboard  strip;  by  tea-time  there  were 
forty !  Poor  Chimborazo !  he  was  afraid 
to  open  his  lips,  for  whenever  he  did  the 
words  would  slip  out  in  spite  of  him. 

"  Well,  Chimbo,"  said  his  father  after 
tea,  "  I  hear  you  have  had  a  visit  from 
your  fairy  godmother.  What  did  she  say 
to  you,  eh  ?  " 

"  Oh,  dear !  "  said  Chimborazo,  "  she 
said  —  oh,  dear  !   I  've  said  it  again  !  " 

*'  She  said,  '  Oh,  dear !  I  've  said  it 
again  ! '  "  repeated  his  father.  "  What 
do  you  mean  by  that  ?  '* 


"OH,    DEAR!"  79 

"  Oh,  dear  !  I  didn't  mean  that,"  cried 
Chimborazo  hastily;  and  again  the  in- 
exorable bell  rang,  and  he  knew  that 
another  hole  was  punched  in  the  fatal 
cardboard.  He  pressed  his  lips  firmly 
together,  and  did  not  open  them  again 
except  to  say  "  Good-night,"  until  he 
was  safe  in  his  own  room.  Then  he  hastily 
drew  the  hated  bell-punch  from  his  pocket, 
and  counted  the  holes  in  the  strip  of  card- 
board ;  there  were  forty-three !  "  Oh, 
dear!  "  cried  the  boy,  forgetting  himself 
again  in  his  alarm,  "  only  two  more ! 
Oh,  dear!  oh,  dear  !  I  've  done  it  again  ! 
oh  —  "  "Ting!  ting!"  went  the  bell- 
punch;  and  the  cardboard  was  punched 
to  the  end.  '*  Oh,  dear !  "  cried  Chim- 
borazo, now  beside  himself  with  terror. 
**  Oh,  dear !  oh,  dear !  oh,  dear !  oh, 
dear!!    what  will  become  of  me  .'^  " 

A  strange  whirring  noise  was  heard, 
then  a  loud  clang;  and  the  next  moment 
the  bell-punch,  as  if  it  were  alive,  flew 
out  of  his  hand,  out  of  the  window,  and 
was  gone ! 

Chimborazo  stood  breathless  with  terror 
for  a  few  minutes,  momentarily  expecting 


80  "OH,    DEAR!" 

that  the  roof  would  fall  in  on  his  head, 
or  the  floor  blow  up  under  his  feet,  or 
some  appalling  catastrophe  of  some  kind 
follow ;  but  nothing  followed.  Everything 
was  quiet,  and  there  seemed  to  be  nothing 
to  do  but  go  to  bed ;  and  so  to  bed  he  went, 
and  slept,  only  to  dream  that  he  was  shot 
through  the  head  with  a  bell-punch,  and 
died  saying,  "  Oh,  dear !  " 

The  next  morning,  when  Chimborazo 
came  downstairs,  his  father  said,  **  My 
boy,  I  am  going  to  drive  over  to  your 
grandfather's  farm  this  morning;  would 
you  like  to  go  with  me  ?  " 

A  drive  to  the  farm  was  one  of  the 
greatest  pleasures  Chimborazo  had,  so  he 
answered  promptly,  *'  Oh,  dear!  " 

"  Oh,  very  well !  "  said  his  father, 
looking  much  surprised.  "  You  need  not 
go,  my  son,  if  you  do  not  want  to.  I  will 
take  Robert  instead." 

Poor  Chimborazo !  He  had  opened  his 
lips  to  say,  '*  Thank  you,  papa.  I  should 
like  to  go  very  much !  "  and,  instead  of 
these  words,  out  had  popped,  in  his  most 
doleful  tone,  the  now"  hated  **  Oh,  dear !  " 
He  sat  amazed;  but  was  roused  by  his 
mother's  calling  him  to  breakfast.  ,  ^ 


"OH,    DEAR!"  81 

"  Come,  Chimbo,"  she  said.  **  Here 
are  sausages  and  scrambled  eggs:  and 
you  are  very  fond  of  both  of  them.  Which 
will  you  have  ?  " 

Chimborazo  hastened  to  say,  "  Sau- 
sages, please,  mamma,"  —  that  is,  he 
hastened  to  try  to  say  it;  but  all  his 
mother  heard  was,  "  Oh,  dear!  " 

His  father  looked  much  displeased. 
**  Give  the  boy  some  bread  and  water, 
wife,"  he  said  sternly.  "  If  he  cannot  an- 
swer properly,  he  must  be  taught.  I  have 
had  enough  of  this  *  oh,  dear !  '  business." 

Poor  Chimborazo !  He  saw  plainly 
enough  now  what  his  punishment  was 
to  be;  and  the  thought  of  it  made  him 
tremble.  He  tried  to  ask  for  some  more 
bread,  but  only  brought  out  his  "  Oh, 
dear!  "  in  such  a  lamentable  tone  that  his 
father  ordered  him  to  leave  the  room.  He 
went  out  into  the  garden,  and  there  he  met 
John  the  gardener,  carrying  a  basket  of 
rosy  apples.      Oh  !  how  good  they  looked  ! 

"  I  am  bringing  some  of  the  finest  apples 
up  to  the  house,  little  master,"  said  John. 
*'  Will  you  have  one  to  put  in  your  pocket  ?  " 

"  Oh,  dear!  "  was  all  the  poor  boy  could 


82  "OH,   DEAR!** 

say,  though  he  wanted  an  apple,  oh,  so 
much !  And  when  John  heard  that  he 
put  the  apple  back  in  his  basket,  mutter- 
ing something  about  ungrateful  monkeys. 

Poor  Chimborazo !  I  will  not  give  the 
whole  history  of  that  miserable  day,  — 
a  miserable  day  it  was  from  beginning  to 
end.  He  fared  no  better  at  dinner  than 
at  breakfast ;  for  at  the  second  **  Oh, 
dear !  "  his  father  sent  him  up  to  his  room, 
"  to  stay  there  until  he  knew  how  to  take 
what  was  given  him,  and  be  thankful 
for  it."  He  knew  well  enough  by  this 
time;  but  he  could  not  tell  his  father  so. 
He  went  to  his  room,  and  sat  looking  out 
of  the  window,  a  hungry  and  miserable  boy. 

In  the  afternoon  his  cousin  Will  came 
up  to  see  him.  "  Why,  Chimbo !  "  he 
cried.  "  Why  do  you  sit  moping  here  in 
the  house,  when  all  the  boys  are  out.^ 
Come  and  play  marbles  with  me  on  the 
piazza.  Ned  and  Harry  are  out  there 
waiting  for  you.    Come  on !  '* 

"  Oh,  dear !  "  said  Chimborazo. 

"What's  the  matter?"  asked  Will. 
"  Have  n't  you  any  marbles  ?  Never  mind. 
I  '11  give  you  half  of  mine,  if  you  like. 
Come !  " 


"OH,   DEAR!"  83 

"  Oh,  DEAR !  "  said  Chimborazo. 

"  Well/'  said  Will,  "  if  that 's  all  you 
have  to  say  when  I  offer  you  marbles,  I  '11 
keep  them  myself.  I  suppose  you  ex- 
pected me  to  give  you  all  of  them,  did  you  ? 
I  never  saw  such  a  fellow !  "  and  off  he 
went  in  a  huff. 


"  Well,  Chimborazo,"  said  the  fairy 
godmother,  "  what  do  you  think  of  *  Oh, 
dear  ! '  now  ?  " 

Chimborazo  looked  at  her  beseechingly, 
but  said  nothing. 

*'  Finding  that  forty-five  times  was  not 
enough  for  you  yesterday,  I  thought  I 
would  let  you  have  all  you  wanted  to-day, 
you  see,"  said  the  fairy  wickedly. 

The  boy  still  looked  imploringly  at  her, 
but  did  not  open  his  lips. 

"  Well,  well,"  she  said  at  last,  touching 
his  lips  with  her  wand,  "  I  think  that  is 
enough  in  the  way  of  punishment,  though 
I  am  sorry  you  broke  the  bell-punch. 
Good-by!  I  don't  believe  you  will  say 
*  Oh,  dear ! '  any  more." 

And  he  did  n't. 


THE   USEFUL   COAL 

HERE  was  once  a  king 
whose  name  was  Sligo. 
He  was  noted  both  for 
his  riches  and  his  kind 
heart.  One  evening, 
as  he  sat  by  his  fire- 
side, a  coal  fell  out  on 
the  hearth.  The  king 
took  up  the  tongs,  intending  to  put  it 
back  on  the  fire,  but  the  coal  said :  — 

"  If  you  will  spare  my  life,  and  do  as 
I  tell  you,  I  will  save  your  treasure  three 
times,  and  tell  you  the  name  of  the  thief 
who  steals  it." 

These  words  gave  the  king  great  joy, 
for  much  treasure  had  been  stolen  from 
him  of  late,  and  none  of  his  officers  could 
discover  the  culprit.  So  he  set  the  coal 
on  the  table,  and  said :  — 

84 


THE   USEFUL   COAL  85 

"  Pretty  little  black  and  red  bird,  tell 
me,  what  shall  I  do  ?  " 

"Put  me  in  your  waistcoat-pocket,"  said 
the  coal,  "  and  take  no  more  thought  for 
to-night." 

Accordingly  the  king  put  the  coal  in  his 
pocket,  and  then,  as  he  sat  before  the  warm 
fire,  he  grew  drowsy,  and  presently  fell 
fast  asleep. 

When  he  had  been  asleep  some  time, 
the  door  opened,  very  softly,  and  the  High 
Cellarer  peeped  cautiously  in.  This  was 
the  one  of  the  king's  officers  who  had 
been  most  eager  in  searching  for  the  thief. 
He  now  crept  softly,  softly,  toward  the 
king,  and  seeing  that  he  was  fast  asleep, 
put  his  hand  into  his  waistcoat-pocket; 
for  in  that  waistcoat-pocket  King  Sligo 
kept  the  key  of  his  treasure-chamber, 
and  the  High  Cellarer  was  the  thief.  He 
put  his  hand  into  the  waistcoat-pocket. 
S-s-s-s-s !  the  coal  burned  it  so  frightfully 
that  he  gave  a  loud  shriek,  and  fell  on  his 
knees  on  the  hearth. 

**  What  is  the  matter  ?  "  cried  the  king, 
waking  with  a  start. 

"  Alas !    your  Majesty,"  said  the  High 


86  THE   USEFUL   COAL 

Cellarer,  thrusting  his  burnt  fingers  into 
his  bosom,  that  the  king  might  not  see 
them.  "  You  were  just  on  the  point  of 
falling  forward  into  the  fire,  and  I  cried 
out,  partly  from  fright  and  partly  to  waken 
you." 

The  king  thanked  the  High  Cellarer, 
and  gave  him  a  ruby  ring  as  a  reward. 
But  when  he  was  in  his  chamber,  and 
making  ready  for  bed,  the  coal  said  to 
him :  — 

"  Once  already  have  I  saved  your 
treasure,  and  to-night  I  shall  save  it  again. 
Only  put  me  on  the  table  beside  your  bed, 
and  you  may  sleep  with  a  quiet  heart." 

So  the  king  put  the  coal  on  the  table, 
and  himself  into  the  bed,  and  was  soon 
sound  asleep.  At  midnight  the  door  of 
the  chamber  opened  very  softly,  and  the 
High  Cellarer  peeped  in  again.  He  knew 
that  at  night  King  Sligo  kept  the  key  under 
his  pillow,  and  he  was  coming  to  get  it. 
He  crept  softly,  softly,  toward  the  bed, 
but  as  he  drew  near  it,  the  coal  cried 
out:  — 

'*  One  eye  sleeps,  but  the  other  eye 
wakes !    one  eye  sleeps,  but  the  other  eye 


THE   USEFUL   COAL  87 

wakes !  Who  is  this  comes  creeping, 
while  honest  men  are  sleeping  ?  " 

The  High  Cellarer  looked  about  him 
in  affright,  and  saw  the  coal  burning  fiery 
red  in  the  darkness,  and  looking  for  all 
the  world  like  a  great  flaming  eye.  In 
an  agony  of  fear  he  fled  from  the  chamber, 
crying,  — 

"  Black  and  red  !  black  and  red  ! 
The  king  has  a  devil  to  guard  his  bed." 

And  he  spent  the  rest  of  the  night  shivering 
in  the  farthest  garret  he  could  find. 

The  next  morning  the  coal  said  to  the 
king:  — 

*'  Again  this  night  have  I  saved  your 
treasure,  and  mayhap  your  life  as  well. 
Yet  a  third  time  I  shall  do  it,  and  this  time 
you  shall  learn  the  name  of  the  thief.  But 
if  I  do  this,  you  must  promise  me  one  thing, 
and  that  is  that  you  will  place  me  in  your 
royal  crown  and  wear  me  as  a  jewel. 
Will  you  do  this  ?  " 

"  That  will  I,  right  gladly !  "  replied 
King  Sligo,  *'  for  a  jewel  indeed  you  are.'* 

"  That  is  well !  "  said  the  coal.     **  It 


88  THE   USEFUL   COAL 

is  true  that  I  am  dying;  but  no  matter. 
It  is  a  fine  thing  to  be  a  jewel  in  a  king's 
crown,  even  if  one  is  dead.  Now  Hsten, 
and  follow  my  directions  closely.  As 
soon  as  I  am  quite  black  and  dead,  — 
which  will  be  in  about  ten  minutes  from 
now,  —  you  must  take  me  in  your  hand 
and  rub  me  all  over  and  around  the  handle 
of  the  door  of  the  treasure-chamber. 
A  good  part  of  me  will  be  rubbed  off,  but 
there  will  be  enough  left  to  put  in  your 
crown.  When  you  have  thoroughly  rubbed 
the  door,  lay  the  key  of  the  treasure- 
chamber  on  your  table,  as  if  you  had 
left  it  there  by  mistake.  You  may  then 
go  hunting  or  riding,  but  not  for  more 
than  an  hour;  and  when  you  return,  you 
must  instantly  call  all  your  court  together, 
as  if  on  business  of  the  greatest  importance. 
Invent  some  excuse  for  asking  them  to 
raise  their  hands,  and  then  arrest  the  man 
whose  hands  are  black.  Do  you  under- 
stand .'^  " 

"I  do !  "  replied  King  Sligo,  fervently, 
"I  do,  and  my  warmest  thanks,  good 
Coal,  are  due  to  you  for  this  —  " 

But  here   he   stopped,  for   already   the 


THE   USEFUL   COAL  89 

coal  was  quite  black,  and  in  less  than  ten 
minutes  it  was  dead  and  cold.  Then  the 
king  took  it  and  rubbed  it  carefully  over 
the  door  of  the  treasure-chamber,  and  lay- 
ing the  key  of  the  door  in  plain  sight  on 
his  dressing-table,  he  called  his  huntsmen 
together,  and  mounting  his  horse,  rode 
away  to  the  forest.  As  soon  as  he  was 
gone,  the  High  Cellarer,  who  had  pleaded 
a  headache  when  asked  to  join  the  hunt, 
crept  softly  to  the  king's  room,  and  to  his 
surprise  found  the  key  on  the  table.  Full 
of  joy,  he  sought  the  treasure-chamber 
at  once,  and  began  filling  his  pockets 
with  gold  and  jewels,  which  he  carried 
to  his  own  apartment,  returning  greedily 
for  more.  In  this  way  he  opened  and 
closed  the  door  many  times.  Suddenly, 
as  he  was  stooping  over  a  silver  barrel 
containing  sapphires,  he  heard  the  sound 
of  a  trumpet,  blown  once,  twice,  thrice. 
The  wicked  thief  started,  for  it  was  the 
signal  for  the  entire  court  to  appear  in- 
stantly before  the  king,  and  the  penalty 
of  disobedience  was  death.  Hastily  cram- 
ming a  handful  of  sapphires  into  his 
pocket,  he  stumbled  to  the  door,  which 


90  THE   USEFUL   COAL 

he  closed  and  locked,  putting  the  key 
also  in  his  pocket,  as  there  was  no  time 
to  return  it.  He  flew  to  the  presence- 
chamber,  where  the  lords  of  the  kingdom 
were  hastily  assembling. 

The  king  was  seated  on  his  throne, 
still  in  his  hunting-dress,  though  he  had 
put  on  his  crown  over  his  hat,  which 
presented  a  peculiar  appearance.  It  was 
with  a  majestic  air,  however,  that  he  rose 
and  said :  — 

**  Nobles,  and  gentlemen  of  my  court ! 
I  have  called  you  together  to  pray 
for  the  soul  of  my  lamented  grand- 
mother, who  died,  as  you  may  remember, 
several  years  ago.  In  token  of  respect,  I 
desire  you  all  to  raise  your  hands  to 
Heaven." 

The  astonished  courtiers,  one  and  all, 
lifted  their  hands  high  in  air.  The  king 
looked,  and,  behold !  the  hands  of  the 
High  Cellarer  were  as  black  as  soot ! 
The  king  caused  him  to  be  arrested  and 
searched,  and  the  sapphires  in  his  pocket, 
besides  the  key  of  the  treasure-chamber, 
gave  ample  proof  of  his  guilt.  His  head 
was  removed  at  once,  and  the  king  had 


THE   USEFUL   COAL  91 

the  useful  coal,  set  in  sapphires,  placed 
in  the  very  front  of  his  crown,  where  it 
was  much  admired  and  praised  as  a 
Black  Diamond. 


SONG    OF    THE    LITTLE    WINDS 

HE    birdies     may    sleep, 
but    the    winds    must 
wake 
Early  and    late,  for  the 

birdies'  sake. 
Kissing    them,     fanning 
them,  soft  and   sweet, 
E'en  till  the  dark  and  the  dawning  meet« 

The    flowers    may    sleep,    but    the   winds 

must  wake 
Early  and  late,  for  the  flowers*  sake. 
Rocking   the    buds    on    the   rose-mother's 

breast. 
Swinging  the  hyacinth-bells  to  rest. 

The   children  may   sleep,   but   the  winds 

must  wake 
Early  and  late,  for  the  children's  sake. 
Singing  so  sweet  in  each  little  one's  ear. 
He  thinks  his  mother's  own  song  to  hear. 


THE    THREE    REMARKS 


HERE  was  once  a 
princess,  the  most 
beautiful  princess 
that  ever  was  seen. 
Her  hair  was  black 
and  soft  as  the  ra- 
ven's wing;  her  eyes 
were  like  stars  dropped  in  a  pool  of  clear 
water,  and  her  speech  like  the  first  tinkling 
cascade  of  the  baby  Nile.  She  was  also 
wise,  graceful,  and  gentle,  so  that  one  would 
have  thought  she  must  be  the  happiest 
princess  in  the  world. 

But,  alas  !  there  was  one  terrible  draw- 
back to  her  happiness.  She  could  make 
only  three  remarks.  No  one  knew  whether 
it  was  the  fault  of  her  nurse,  or  a  peculiarity 
born  with  her;  but  the  sad  fact  remained, 
that  no  matter  what  was  said  to  her,  she 
could  only  reply  in  one  of  three  phrases. 
The  first  was,  — 

93 


94  THE   THREE   REMARKS 

"  What  is  the  price  of  butter  ?  " 
The   second,   **  Has  your  grandmother 
sold  her  mangle  yet  ?  " 

And  the  third,  "  With  all  my  heart !  " 
You  may  well  imagine  what  a  great 
misfortune  this  was  to  a  young  and  lively 
princess.  How  could  she  join  in  the  sports 
and  dances  of  the  noble  youths  and  maidens 
of  the  court?  She  could  not  always  be 
silent,  neither  could  she  always  say,  "  With 
all  my  heart !  "  though  this  was  her  fa- 
vorite phrase,  and  she  used  it  whenever 
she  possibly  could;  and  it  was  not  at  all 
pleasant,  when  some  gallant  knight  asked 
her  whether  she  would  rather  play  croquet 
or  Aunt  Sally,  to  be  obliged  to  reply, 
"  What  is  the  price  of  butter  ?  " 

On  certain  occasions,  however,  the 
princess  actually  found  her  infirmity  of 
service  to  her.  She  could  always  put  an 
end  suddenly  to  any  conversation  that  did 
not  please  her,  by  interposing  with  her 
first  or  second  remark;  and  they  were 
also  a  very  great  assistance  to  her  when, 
as  happened  nearly  every  day,  she  re- 
ceived an  offer  of  marriage.  Emperors, 
kings,    princes,    dukes,    earls,    marquises, 


THE   THREE   REMARKS  95 

viscounts,  baronets,  and  many  other  lofty 
personages  knelt  at  her  feet,  and  offered 
her  their  hands,  hearts,  and  other  posses- 
sions of  greater  or  less  value.  But  for 
all  her  suitors  the  princess  had  but  one 
answer.  Fixing  her  deep  radiant  eyes 
on  them,  she  would  reply  with  thrilling 
earnestness,  '*  Has  your  grandmother  sold 
her  mangle  yet  ?  "  and  this  always  im- 
pressed the  suitors  so  deeply  that  they 
retired,  weeping,  to  a  neighboring  mon- 
astery, where  they  hung  up  their  armor 
in  the  chapel,  and  taking  the  vows,  passed 
the  remainder  of  their  lives  mostly  in 
flogging  themselves,  wearing  hair  shirts, 
and  putting  dry  toast-crumbs  in  their  beds. 

Now,  when  the  king  found  that  all  his 
best  nobles  were  turning  into  monks, 
he  was  greatly  displeased,  and  said  to 
the  princess :  — 

*'  My  daughter,  it  is  high  time  that  all 
this  nonsense  came  to  an  end.  The  next 
time  a  respectable  person  asks  you  to 
marry  him,  you  will  say,  '  With  all  my 
heart !  '  or  I  will  know  the  reason  why." 

But  this  the  princess  could  not  endure, 
for  she  had  never  yet  seen  a  man  whom 


96  THE   THREE   REMARKS 

she  was  willing  to  marry.  Nevertheless, 
she  feared  her  father's  anger,  for  she  knew 
that  he  always  kept  his  word;  so  that 
very  night  she  slipped  down  the  back 
stairs  of  the  palace,  opened  the  back  door, 
and  ran  away  out  into  the  wide  world. 

She  wandered  for  many  days,  over 
mountain  and  moor,  through  fen  and 
through  forest,  until  she  came  to  a  fair 
city.  Here  all  the  bells  were  ringing, 
and  the  people  shouting  and  flinging  caps 
into  the  air;  for  their  old  king  was  dead, 
and  they  were  just  about  to  crown  a  new 
one.  The  new  king  was  a  stranger,  who 
had  come  to  the  town  only  the  day  before ; 
but  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  old  monarch's 
death,  he  told  the  people  that  he  was  a 
king  himself,  and  as  he  happened  to  be 
without  a  kingdom  at  that  moment,  he 
would  be  quite  willing  to  rule  over  them. 
The  people  joyfully  assented,  for  the  late 
king  had  left  no  heir;  and  now  all  the 
preparations  had  been  completed.  The 
crown  had  been  polished  up,  and  a  new 
tip  put  on  the  sceptre,  as  the  old  king  had 
quite  spoiled  it  by  poking  the  fire  with  it 
for  upwards  of  forty  years. 


THE   THREE   REMARKS  97 

When  the  people  saw  the  beautiful 
princess,  they  welcomed  her  with  many 
bows,  and  insisted  on  leading  her  before 
the  new  king. 

*'  Who  knows  but  that  they  may  be 
related  ?  "  said  everybody.  "  They  both 
came  from  the  same  direction,  and  both  are 
strangers." 

Accordingly  the  princess  was  led  to  the 
market-place,  where  the  king  was  sitting 
in  royal  state.  He  had  a  fat,  red,  shining 
face,  and  did  not  look  like  the  kings  whom 
she  had  been  in  the  habit  of  seeing;  but 
nevertheless  the  princess  made  a  graceful 
courtesy,  and  then  waited  to  hear  what 
he  would  say. 

The  new  king  seemed  rather  embarrassed 
when  he  saw  that  it  was  a  princess  who 
appeared  before  him;  but  he  smiled 
graciously,  and  said,  in  a  smooth  oily 
voice,  — 

"  I  trust  your  'Ighness  is  quite  well. 
And  'ow  did  yer  Tghness  leave  yer  pa 
and  ma  ?  " 

At  these  words  the  princess  raised  her 
head  and  looked  fixedly  at  the  red-faced 
king;  then  she  replied,  with  scornful 
distinctness,  — 


98  THE   THREE   REMARKS 

"  ^Vliat  is  the  price  of  butter  ?  " 
At  these  words  an  alarming  change  came 
over  the  king's  face.  The  red  faded 
from  it,  and  left  it  a  livid  green ;  his  teeth 
chattered;  his  eyes  stared,  and  rolled 
in  their  sockets ;  while  the  sceptre  dropped 
from  his  trembling  hand  and  fell  at  the 
princess's  feet.  For  the  truth  was,  this 
was  no  king  at  all,  but  a  retired  butterman, 
who  had  laid  by  a  little  money  at  his  trade, 
and  had  thought  of  setting  up  a  public 
house;  but  chancing  to  pass  through  this 
city  at  the  very  time  when  they  were 
looking  for  a  king,  it  struck  him  that  he 
might  just  as  well  fill  the  vacant  place  as 
any  one  else.  No  one  had  thought  of  his 
being  an  impostor;  but  when  the  princess 
fixed  her  clear  eyes  on  him  and  asked  him 
that  familiar  question,  which  he  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  hearing  many  times  a  day 
for  a  great  part  of  his  life,  the  guilty 
butterman  thought  himself  detected,  and 
shook  in  his  guilty  shoes.  Hastily  de- 
scending from  his  throne,  he  beckoned 
the  princess  into  a  side-chamber,  and 
closing  the  door,  besought  her  in  moving 
terms  not  to  betray  him. 


THE   THREE   REMARKS  99 

"  Here,"  he  said,  **  is  a  bag  of  rubies 
as  big  as  pigeon's  eggs.  There  are  six 
thousand  of  them,  and  I  'umbly  beg  your 
Tghness  to  haccept  them  as  a  slight  token 
hof  my  hesteem,  if  your  Tghness  will 
kindly  consent  to  spare  a  respeckable 
tradesman  the  disgrace  of  being  hexposed." 

The  princess  reflected,  and  came  to  the 
conclusion  that,  after  all,  a  butterman 
might  make  as  good  a  king  as  any  one  else ; 
so  she  took  the  rubies  with  a  gracious  little 
nod,  and  departed,  while  all  the  people 
shouted,  "  Hooray !  "  and  followed  her, 
waving  their  hats  and  kerchiefs,  to  the 
gates  of  the  city. 

With  her  bag  of  rubies  over  her  shoulder, 
the  fair  princess  now  pursued  her  journey, 
and  fared  forward  over  heath  and  hill, 
through  brake  and  through  brier.  After 
several  days  she  came  to  a  deep  forest, 
which  she  entered  without  hesitation,  for 
she  knew  no  fear.  She  had  not  gone  a 
hundred  paces  under  the  arching  limes, 
when  she  was  met  by  a  band  of  robbers, 
who  stopped  her  and  asked  what  she  did 
in  their  forest,  and  what  she  carried  in  her 
bag.      They    were    fierce,    black-bearded 


100  THE   THREE   REMARKS 

men,  armed  to  the  teeth  with  daggers, 
cutlasses,  pistols,  dirks,  hangers,  blunder- 
busses, and  other  defensive  weapons;  but 
the  princess  gazed  calmly  on  them,  and 
said  haughtily,  — 

*'  Has  your  grandmother  sold  her  mangle 
yet?" 

The  effect  was  magical.  The  robbers 
started  back  in  dismay,  crying,  **  The 
countersign  !  "  Then  they  hastily  lowered 
their  weapons,  and  assuming  attitudes 
of  abject  humility,  besought  the  princess 
graciously  to  accompany  them  to  their 
master's  presence.  With  a  lofty  gesture 
she  signified  assent,  and  the  cringing, 
trembling  bandits  led  her  on  through  the 
forest  till  they  reached  an  open  glade, 
into  which  the  sunbeams  glanced  right 
merrily.  Here,  under  a  broad  oak-tree 
which  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  glade, 
reclined  a  man  of  gigantic  stature  and 
commanding  mien,  with  a  whole  armory 
of  weapons  displayed  upon  his  person. 
Hastening  to  their  chief,  the  robbers 
conveyed  to  him,  in  agitated  whispers, 
the  circumstance  of  their  meeting  the 
princess,    and    of    her    unexpected    reply 


THE   THREE   REMARKS  101 

to  their  questions.  Hardly  seeming  to 
credit  their  statement,  the  gigantic  chief- 
tain sprang  to  his  feet,  and  advancing 
toward  the  princess  with  a  respectful 
reverence,  begged  her  to  repeat  the  remark 
which  had  so  disturbed  his  men.  With 
a  royal  air,  and  in  clear  and  ringing  tones, 
the  princess  repeated,  — 

"  Has  your  grandmother  sold  her  mangle 
yet  ?  "  and  gazed  steadfastly  at  the  robber 
chief. 

He  turned  deadly  pale,  and  staggered 
against  a  tree,  which  alone  prevented  him 
from  falling. 

"It  is  true !  "  he  gasped.  "  We  are 
undone !  The  enemy  is  without  doubt 
close  at  hand,  and  all  is  over.  Yet," 
he  added  with  more  iBrmness,  and  with 
an  appealing  glance  at  the  princess,  "  yet 
there  may  be  one  chance  left  for  us.  If 
this  gracious  lady  will  consent  to  go  for- 
ward, instead  of  returning  through  the 
wood,  we  may  yet  escape  with  our  lives. 
Noble  princess !  "  and  here  he  and  the 
whole  band  assumed  attitudes  of  suppli- 
cation, "  consider,  I  pray  you,  whether 
it  would  really  add  to  your  happiness  to 


102  THE   THREE   REMARKS 

betray  to  the  advancing  army  a  few  poor 
foresters,  who  earn  their  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  their  brow.  Here,"  he  continued, 
hastily  drawing  something  from  a  hole 
in  the  oak-tree,  "  is  a  bag  containing  ten 
thousand  sapphires,  each  as  large  as  a 
pullet's  egg.  If  you  will  graciously  deign 
to  accept  them,  and  to  pursue  your 
journey  in  the  direction  I  shall  indicate, 
the  Red  Chief  of  the  Rustywhanger  will 
be  your  slave  forever." 

The  princess,  who  of  course  knew  that 
there  was  no  army  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  who  moreover  did  not  in  the  least 
care  which  way  she  went,  assented  to  the 
Red  Chief's  proposition,  and  taking  the 
bag  of  sapphires,  bowed  her  farew^ell 
to  the  grateful  robbers,  and  followed  their 
leader  down  a  ferny  path  which  led  to  the 
farther  end  of  the  forest.  When  they 
came  to  the  open  country,  the  robber 
chieftain  took  his  leave  of  the  princess, 
with  profound  bows  and  many  protesta- 
tions of  devotion,  and  returned  to  his 
band,  who  were  already  preparing  to 
plunge  into  the  impenetrable  thickets  of 
the  midforest. 


THE   THREE   REMARKS  103 

The  princess,  meantime,  with  her  two 
bags  of  gems  on  her  shoulders,  fared 
forward  with  a  hght  heart,  by  dale  and 
by  down,  through  moss  and  through 
meadow.  By-and-by  she  came  to  a  fair 
high  palace,  built  all  of  marble  and 
shining  jasper,  with  smooth  lawns  about 
it,  and  sunny  gardens  of  roses  and  gilly- 
flowers, from  which  the  air  blew  so  sweet 
that  it  was  a  pleasure  to  breathe  it.  The 
princess  stood  still  for  a  moment,  to  taste 
the  sweetness  of  this  air,  and  to  look  her 
fill  at  so  fair  a  spot;  and  as  she  stood 
there,  it  chanced  that  the  palace-gates 
opened,  and  the  young  king  rode  out  with 
his  court,  to  go  a-catching  of  nighthawks. 

Now  when  the  king  saw  a  right  fair 
princess  standing  alone  at  his  palace-gate, 
her  rich  garments  dusty  and  travel-stained, 
and  two  heavy  sacks  hung  upon  her 
shoulders,  he  was  filled  with  amazement; 
and  leaping  from  his  steed,  like  the  gallant 
knight  that  he  was,  he  besought  her  to  tell 
him  whence  she  came  and  whither  she 
was  going,  and  in  what  way  he  might 
be  of  service  to  her. 

But  the  princess  looked  down  at  her 


104  THE   THREE   REMARKS 

little  dusty  shoes,  and  answered  never  a 
word ;  for  she  had  seen  at  the  first  glance 
how  fair  and  goodly  a  king  this  was,  and 
she  would  not  ask  him  the  price  of  butter, 
nor  whether  his  grandmother  had  sold  her 
mangle  yet.  But  she  thought  in  her  heart, 
"  Now,  I  have  never,  in  all  my  life,  seen 
a  man  to  whom  I  would  so  willingly  say, 
*  With  all  my  heart !  '  if  he  should  ask 
me  to  marry  him." 

The  king  marvelled  much  at  her  silence, 
and  presently  repeated  his  questions,  add- 
ing, "  And  what  do  you  carry  so  carefully 
in  those  two  sacks,  which  seem  over- 
heavy  for  your  delicate  shoulders  ?  " 

Still  holding  her  eyes  downcast,  the 
princess  took  a  ruby  from  one  bag,  and 
a  sapphire  from  the  other,  and  in  silence 
handed  them  to  the  king,  for  she  willed 
that  he  should  know  she  was  no  beggar, 
even  though  her  shoes  were  dusty.  Thereat 
all  the  nobles  were  filled  with  amazement, 
for  no  such  gems  had  ever  been  seen  in 
that  country. 

But  the  king  looked  steadfastly  at  the 
princess,  and  said,  "  Rubies  are  fine,  and 
sapphires    are    fair;     but,    maiden,    if    I 


THE   THREE   REMARKS  105 

could  but  see  those  eyes  of  yours,  I  warrant 
that  the  gems  would  look  pale  and  dull 
beside  them." 

At  that  the  princess  raised  her  clear 
dark  eyes,  and  looked  at  the  king  and 
smiled ;  and  the  glance  of  her  eyes  pierced 
straight  to  his  heart,  so  that  he  fell  on  his 
knees  and  cried : 

"  Ah !  sweet  princess,  now  do  I  know 
that  thou  art  the  love  for  whom  I  have 
waited  so  long,  and  whom  I  have  sought 
through  so  many  lands.  Give  me  thy 
white  hand,  and  tell  me,  either  by  word 
or  by  sign,  that  thou  wilt  be  my  queen 
and  my  bride  !  " 

And  the  princess,  like  a  right  royal 
maiden  as  she  was,  looked  him  straight 
in  the  eyes,  and  giving  him  her  little 
white  hand,  answered  bravely,  **  With 
all  my  heart!  " 


HOKEY   POKEY 

lOKEY    POKEY   was    the 

youngest  of  a  large  family 

of    children.      His   elder 

brothers,  as  they  grew  up, 

all  became  either  butchers 

or    bakers    or    makers    of 

candle-sticks,  for  such  was  the  custom  of 

the  family.    But  Hokey  Pokey  would  be 

none  of  these  things ;  so  when  he  was  grown 

to  be  a  tall  youth  he  went  to  his  father 

and  said,  '*  Give  me  my  fortune." 

"  '  Will    you    be    a    butcher  ? "    asked 

his  father. 

No,'  said  Hokey  Pokey. 

Will  you  be  a  baker  ?  ' 

No,  again.' 

Will  you  make  candlesticks  ?  * 

Nor  that  either.' 

'*  *  Then,'  said  his  father,  *  this  is  the 
loa 


HOKEY  POKEY  107 

only  fortune  I  can  give  you ; '  and  with 
that  he  took  up  his  cudgel  and  gave  the 
youth  a  stout  beating.  '  Now  you  cannot 
complain  that  I  gave  you  nothing,'  said  he. 

''  '  That  is  true,'  said  Hokey  Pokey. 
*  But  give  me  also  the  wooden  mallet 
which  lies  on  the  shelf,  and  I  will  make 
my  way  through  the  world.' 

"  His  father  gave  him  the  mallet,  glad 
to  be  so  easily  rid  of  him,  and  Hokey 
Pokey  went  out  into  the  world  to  seek  his 
fortune.  He  walked  all  day,  and  at  night- 
fall he  came  to  a  small  village.  Feeling 
hungry,  he  went  into  a  baker's  shop, 
intending  to  buy  a  loaf  of  bread  for  his 
supper.  There  was  a  great  noise  and 
confusion  in  the  back  part  of  the  shop; 
and  on  going  to  see  what  was  the  matter, 
he  found  the  baker  on  his  knees  beside 
a  large  box  or  chest,  which  he  was  trying 
with  might  and  main  to  keep  shut.  But 
there  was  something  inside  the  box  which 
was  trying  just  as  hard  to  get  out,  and 
it  screamed  and  kicked,  and  pushed  the 
lid  up  as  often  as  the  baker  shut  it  down. 

"  '  What  have  you  there  in  the  box  ?  * 
asked  Hokey  Pokey. 


108  HOKEY  POKEY 

"  '  I  have  my  wife/  replied  the  baker. 
'  She  is  so  frightfully  ill-tempered  that 
whenever  I  am  going  to  bake  bread  I 
am  obliged  to  shut  her  up  in  this  box, 
lest  she  push  me  into  the  oven  and  bake 
me  with  the  bread,  as  she  has  often 
threatened  to  do.  But  to-day  she  has 
broken  the  lock  of  the  box,  and  I  know 
not  how  to  keep  her  down.' 

"  '  That  is  easily  managed,'  said  Hokey 
Pokey.  '  Do  you  but  tell  her,  when  she 
asks  who  I  am,  that  I  am  a  giant  with 
three  heads,  and  all  will  be  well.'  So 
saying,  he  took  his  wooden  mallet  and 
dealt  three  tremendous  blows  on  the  box, 
saying  in  a  loud  voice,  — 

*  Hickory  Hox ! 
I  sit  by  the  box, 
Waiting  to  give  you  a  few  of  my  knocks/ 

"  *  Husband,  husband  !  whom  have  you 
there  ?  '  cried  the  wife  in  terror. 

"  *  Alas  !  '  said  the  baker;  *  it  is  a  fright- 
ful giant  with  three  heads.  He  is  sitting 
by  the  box,  and  if  you  open  it  so  much 
as  the  width  of  your  little  finger,  he  will 
pull  you  out  and  beat  you  to  powder.' 


HOKEY   POKEY  109 

"  When  the  wife  heard  that  she  crouched 
down  in  the  box,  and  said  never  a  word, 
for  she  was  afraid  of  her  life. 

"  The  baker  then  took  Hokey  Pokey 
into  the  other  part  of  the  shop,  thanked 
him  warmly,  and  gave  him  a  good  supper 
and  a  bed.  The  next  morning  he  gave 
him  for  a  present  the  finest  loaf  of  bread 
in  his  shop,  which  was  shaped  like  a  large 
round  ball;  and  Hokey  Pokey,  after 
knocking  once  more  on  the  lid  of  the  box, 
continued  his  travels. 

**  He  had  not  gone  far  before  he  came 
to  another  village,  and  wishing  to  inquire 
his  way  he  entered  the  first  shop  he  came 
to,  which  proved  to  be  that  of  a  confec- 
tioner. The  shop  was  full  of  the  most 
beautiful  sweetmeats  imaginable,  and 
everything  was  bright  and  gay;  but  the 
confectioner  himself  sat  upon  a  bench, 
weeping  bitterly. 

"  '  What  ails  you,  friend  ?  '  asked  Hokey 
Pokey ;  '  and  why  do  you  weep,  when 
you  are  surrounded  by  the  most  delightful 
things  in  the  world  ?  ' 

''  '  Alas  !  '  replied  the  confectioner. 
*  That  is  just  the  cause  of  my  trouble. 


110  HOKEY  POKEY 

The  sweetmeats  that  I  make  are  so  good 
that  their  fame  has  spread  far  and  wide, 
and  the  Rat  King,  hearing  of  them,  has 
taken  up  his  abode  in  my  cellar.  Every 
night  he  comes  up  and  eats  all  the  sweet- 
meats I  have  made  the  day  before.  There 
is  no  comfort  in  my  life,  and  I  am  thinking 
of  becoming  a  rope-maker  and  hanging 
myself  with  the  first  rope  I  make.' 

"  *  Why  don't  you  set  a  trap  for  him  ?  ' 
asked  Hokey  Pokey. 

"  *  I  have  set  fifty-nine  traps,'  replied 
the  confectioner,  '  but  he  is  so  strong  that 
he  breaks  them  all.' 

"  *  Poison  him,'  suggested  Hokey  Pokey. 

"  *  He  dislikes  poison,'  said  the  con- 
fectioner, '  and  will  not  take  it  in  any 
form.' 

"  *  In  that  case,'  said  Hokey  Pokey, 
'  leave  him  to  me.  Go  away,  and  hide 
yourself  for  a  few  minutes,  and  all  will 
be  well.' 

"  The  confectioner  retired  behind  a  large 
screen,  having  first  showed  Hokey  Pokey 
the  hole  of  the  Rat  King,  which  was 
certainly  a  very  large  one.     Hokey  Pokey 


HOKEY   POKEY  111 

sat  down  by  the  hole,  with  his  mallet  in  his 
hand,  and  said  in  a  squeaking  voice, — 

•  Ratly  King !    Kingly  Rat ! 
Here  your  mate  comes  pit-a-pat. 
Come  and  see;  the  way  is  free; 
Hear  my  signal :  one  !  two !  three ! ' 

And  he  scratched  three  times  on  the  floor. 
Almost  immediately  the  head  of  a  rat 
popped  up  through  the  hole.  He  was  a 
huge  rat,  quite  as  large  as  a  cat;  but 
his  size  was  no  help  to  him,  for  as  soon 
as  he  appeared,  Hokey  Pokey  dealt  him 
such  a  blow  with  his  mallet  that  he  fell 
down  dead  without  even  a  squeak.  Then 
Hokey  Pokey  called  the  confectioner,  who 
came  out  from  behind  the  screen  and 
thanked  him  warmly;  he  also  bade  him 
choose  anything  he  liked  in  the  shop,  in 
payment  for  his  services. 

"  '  Can  you  match  this  ?  '  asked  Hokey 
Pokey,  showing  his  round  ball  of  bread. 

"  '  That  can  I !  '  said  the  confectioner; 
and  he  brought  out  a  most  beautiful  ball, 
twice  as  large  as  the  loaf,  composed  of 
the  finest  sweetmeats  in  the  world,  red 
and    yellow    and    white.      Hokey    Pokey 


112  HOKEY   POKEY 

took  it  with  many  thanks,  and  then  went 
on  his  way. 

"  The  next  day  he  came  to  a  third  village 
in  the  streets  of  which  the  people  were 
all  running  to  and  fro  in  the  wildest  con- 
fusion. 

"  '  What  is  the  matter  ?  '  asked  Hokey 
Pokey,  as  one  man  ran  directly  into  his 
arms. 

"  *  Alas  ! '  replied  the  man.  '  A  wild 
bull  has  got  into  the  principal  china-shop, 
and  is  breaking  all  the  beautiful  dishes.' 

"  *  Why  do  you  not  drive  him  out .?  ' 
asked  Hokey  Pokey. 

"  *  We  are  afraid  to  do  that,'  said  the 
man ;  '  but  we  are  running  up  and  down 
to  express  our  emotion  and  sympathy, 
and  that  is  s®mething.' 

"  '  Show  me  the  china-shop,'  said  Hokey 
Pokey. 

**  So  the  man  showed  him  the  china- 
shop;  and  there,  sure  enough,  was  a 
furious  bull,  making  most  terrible  havoc. 
He  was  dancing  up  and  down  on  a  Dres- 
den dinner  set,  and  butting  at  the  Chinese 
mandarins,  and  switching  down  finger- 
bowls  and  teapots  with  his  tail,  bellowing 


HOKEY   POKEY  113 

meanwhile  in  the  most  outrageous  manner. 
The  floor  was  covered  with  broken  crockery, 
and  the  whole  scene  was  melancholy  to 
behold. 

**  Now  when  Hokey  Pokey  saw  this, 
he  said  to  the  owner  of  the  china-shop, 
who  was  tearing  his  hair  in  a  frenzy  of 
despair,  '  Stop  tearing  your  hair,  which 
is  indeed  a  senseless  occupation,  and  I 
will  manage  this  matter  for  you.  Bring 
me  a  red  cotton  umbrella,  and  all  will 
yet  be  well.' 

''  So  the  china-shop  man  brought  him 
a  red  cotton  umbrella,  and  Hokey  Pokey 
began  to  open  and  shut  it  violently  in  front 
of  the  door.  When  the  bull  saw  that,  he 
stopped  dancing  on  the  Dresden  dinner 
set  and  came  charging  out  of  the  shop, 
straight  towards  the  red  umbrella.  When 
he  came  near  enough,  Hokey  Pokey 
dropped  the  umbrella,  and  raising  his 
wooden  mallet  hit  the  bull  such  a  blow  on 
the  muzzle  that  he  fell  down  dead,  and 
never  bellowed  again. 

"  The  people  all  flung  up  their  hats,  and 
cheered,  and  ran  up  and  down  all  the 
more,  to  express  their  gratification.     As 


114  HOKEY   POKEY 

for  the  china-shop  man,  he  threw  his  arms 
round  Hokey  Pokey's  neck,  called  him 
his  cherished  preserver,  and  bade  him 
choose  anything  that  was  left  in  his  shop 
in  payment  for  his  services. 

"  *  Can  you  match  these  ? '  asked  Hokey 
Pokey,  holding  up  the  loaf  of  bread  and 
the  ball  of  sweetmeats. 

"  *  That  can  I,'  said  the  shop-man ; 
and  he  brought  out  a  huge  ball  of  solid 
ivory,  inlaid  with  gold  and  silver,  and  truly 
lovely  to  behold.  It  was  very  heavy, 
being  twice  as  large  as  the  ball  of  sweet- 
meats; but  Hokey  Pokey  took  it,  and, 
after  thanking  the  shop-man  and  receiving 
his  thanks  in  return,  he  proceeded  on  his 
way. 

"  After  w^alking  for  several  days,  he 
came  to  a  fair,  large  castle,  in  front  of 
which  sat  a  man  on  horseback.  When 
the  man  saw  Hokey  Pokey,  he  called  out, — 

"  '  Who  are  you,  and  what  do  you  bring 
to  the  mighty  Dragon,  lord  of  this  castle  ?  ' 

"  *  Hokey  Pokey  is  my  name,'  replied 
the  youth,  *  and  strange  things  do  I  bring. 
But  what  does  the  mighty  Dragon  want, 
for  example  ?  ' 


HOKEY  POKEY  115 

"  *  He  wants  something  new  to  eat,' 
said  the  man  on  horseback.  *  He  has  eaten 
of  everything  that  is  known  in  the  world, 
and  pines  for  something  new.  He  who 
brings  him  a  new  dish,  never  before  tasted 
by  him,  shall  have  a  thousand  crowns 
and  a  new  jacket;  but  he  who  fails,  after 
three  trials,  shall  have  his  jacket  taken 
away  from  him,  and  his  head  cut  off 
besides.' 

"  '  I  bring  strange  food,'  said  Hokey 
Pokey.  *  Let  me  pass  in,  that  I  may 
serve  the  mighty  Dragon.' 

"  Then  the  man  on  horseback  lowered 
his  lance,  and  let  him  pass  in,  and  in  short 
space  he  came  before  the  mighty  Dragon. 
The  Dragon  sat  on  a  silver  throne,  with 
a  golden  knife  in  one  hand,  and  a  golden 
fork  in  the  other.  Around  him  were  many 
people,  who  offered  him  dishes  of  every 
description;  but  he  would  none  of  them, 
for  he  had  tasted  them  all  before ;  and  he 
howled  with  hunger  on  his  silver  throne. 
Then  came  forward  Hokey  Pokey,  and 
said  boldly,  — 

"  '  Here  come  I,  Hokey  Pokey,  bringing 
strange  food  for  the  mighty  Dragon.' 


116  HOKEY   POKEY 

**  The  Dragon  howled  again,  and  wav- 
ing his  knife  and  fork,  bade  Hokey  Pokey 
give  the  food  to  the  attendants,  that  they 
might  serve  him. 

"'Not  so,'  said  Hokey  Pokey.  *I 
must  serve  you  myself,  most  mighty  Dragon, 
else  you  shall  not  taste  of  my  food.  There- 
fore put  down  your  knife  and  fork,  and 
open  your  mouth,  and  you  shall  see  what 
you  shall  see.' 

"  So  the  Dragon,  after  summoning  the 
man-with-the-thousand-crowns  and  the 
man-with-the-new- jacket  to  one  side  of 
his  throne,  and  the  man-to-take-away-the 
old-jacket  and  the  executioner  to  the 
other,  laid  down  his  knife  and  fork  and 
opened  his  mouth.  Hokey  Pokey  stepped 
lightly  forward,  and  dropped  the  round 
loaf  down  the  great  red  throat.  The 
Dragon  shut  his  jaws  together  with  a  snap, 
and  swallowed  the  loaf  in  two  gulps. 

*'  *  That  is  good,'  he  said ;  '  but  it  is 
not  new.  I  have  eaten  much  bread,  though 
never  before  in  a  round  loaf.  Have  you 
anything  more.?  Or  shall  the  man  take 
away  your  jacket  ?  ' 

"  '  I  have  this,  an  it  please  you/  said 


HOKEY   POKEY  .     117 

Hokey  Pokey;  and  he  dropped  the  ball 
of  sweetmeats  into  the  Dragon's  mouth. 

"  When  the  Dragon  tasted  this,  he  rolled 
his  eyes  round  and  round,  and  was  speech- 
less with  delight  for  some  time.  At 
length  he  said,  '  Worthy  youth,  this  is 
very  good;  it  is  extremely  good;  it  is 
better  than  anything  I  ever  tasted.  Never- 
theless, it  is  not  new;  for  I  have  tasted 
the  same  kind  of  thing  before,  only  not 
nearly  so  good.  And  now,  unless  you  are 
positively  sure  that  you  have  something 
new  for  your  third  trial,  you  really  might 
as  well  take  off  your  jacket;  and  the 
executioner  shall  take  off  your  head  at 
the  same  time,  as  it  is  getting  rather  late. 
Executioner,  do  your  —  ' 

"  *  Craving  your  pardon,  most  mighty 
Dragon,'  said  Hokey  Pokey,  '  I  will  first 
make  my  third  trial ; '  and  with  that  he 
dropped  the  ivory  ball  into  the  Dragon's 
mouth. 

*' '  Gug-wugg-gUU-grrr  ! '  said  the  Dragon, 
for  the  ball  had  stuck  fast,  being  too 
big  for  him  to  swallow. 

*'  Then  Hokey  Pokey  lifted  his  mallet 
and   struck   one    tremendous   blow   upon 


118  HOKEY   POKEY 

the  ball,  driving  it  far  down  the  throat 
of  the  monster,  and  killing  him  most 
fatally  dead.  He  rolled  off  the  throne 
like  a  scaly  log,  and  his  crown  fell  off  and 
rolled  to  Hokey  Pokey's  feet.  The  youth 
picked  it  up  and  put  it  on  his  own  head, 
and  then  called  the  people  about  him  and 
addressed  them. 

"  *  People,'  he  said,  *  I  am  Hokey  Pokey, 
and  I  have  come  from  a  far  land  to  rule 
over  you.  Your  Dragon  have  I  slain, 
and  now  I  am  your  king ;  and  if  you  will 
always  do  exactly  what  I  tell  you  to  do, 
you  will  have  no  further  trouble.' 

"  So  the  people  threw  up  their  caps 
and  cried,  *  Long  live  Hokey  Pokey !  ' 
and  they  always  did  exactly  as  he  told 
them,  and  had  no  further  trouble. 

"  And  Hokey  Pokey  sent  for  his  three 
brothers,  and  made  them  Chief  Butcher, 
Chief  Baker,  and  Chief  Candlestick-maker 
of  his  kingdom.  But  to  his  father  he  sent 
a  large  cudgel  made  of  pure  gold,  with 
these  words  engraved  on  it :  *  Now  you 
cannot  complain  that  I  have  given  you 
nothing ! '  " 


THE  TANGLED   SKEIN 

'Y  dear  child,"  said  the 
Angel-who-attends-to 
things,  "why  are  you 
crying  so  very  hard  ? " 
"  Oh  dear !  oh  dear  I  " 
said  the  child.  "  No  one  ever  had  such  a 
dreadful  time  before,  I  do  believe,  and  it 
all  comes  of  trying  to  be  good.  Oh  dear  I 
Oh  dear  I  I  wish  I  was  bad ;  then  I  should 
not  have  all  this  trouble." 

"  Yes,  you  would,"  said  the  Angel ;  "  a 
great  deal  worse.  Now  tell  me  what  is  the 
matter ! " 

"  Look  I "  said  the  child.  "  Mother  gave 
me  this  skein  to  wind,  and  I  promised  to 
do  it.  But  then  father  sent  me  on  an 
errand,  and  it  was  almost  school-time,  and 
I  was  studying  my  lesson  and  going  on  the 

119 


120  THE   TANGLED   SKEIN 

errand  and  winding  the  skein,  all  at  the 
same  time,  and  now  I  have  got  all  tangled 
up  in  the  wool,  and  I  cannot  walk  either 
forward  or  back,  and  oh !  dear  me,  what 
ever  shall  I  do  ? '' 

"  Sit  down  ! "  said  the  Angel. 

"  But  it  is  school-time  !  "  said  the  child. 

"  Sit  down  !  "  said  the  Angel. 

"  But  father  sent  me  on  an  errand !  '* 
said  the  child. 

"  Sit  Down  ! "  said  the  Angel ;  and  he 
took  the  child  by  her  shoulders  and  set  her 
down. 

"  Now  sit  still ! "  he  said,  and  he  began 
patiently  to  wind  up  the  skein.  It  was 
wofully  tangled,  and  knotted  about  the 
child's  hands  and  feet;  it  was  a  wonder 
she  could  move  at  all ;  but  at  last  it  was 
all  clear,  and  the  Angel  handed  her  the 
ball. 

"  I  thank  you  so  very  much  ! "  said  the 
child.     "  I  w^as  not  naughty,  was  I  ? " 

"  Not  naughty,  only  foolish  ;  but  that 
does  just  as  much  harm  sometimes." 

"  But  I  was  doing  right  things  I "  said 
the  child. 


THE   TANGLED   SKEIN  121 

"  But  you  were  doing  them  in  the  wrong 
way  I "  said  the  Angel.  "  It  is  good  to  do 
an  errand,  and  it  is  good  to  go  to  school, 
but  when  you  have  a  skein  to  wind  you 
must  sit  stilL" 


A   SONG   FOR    HAL 

NCE  I  saw  a  little  boat, 
and   a  pretty,  pretty 
boat, 
When     daybreak    the 
hills    was    adorning, 
And  into  it  I  jumped, 
and  away  I  did  float, 
So  very,  very  early  in  the  morning. 

Chorus 
And  every  little  wave  had  its  nightcap  on, 
Its   nightcap,   white   cap,   nightcap   on. 
And  every  little  wave  had  its  nightcap  on. 
So  very,  very  early  in  the  morning. 

All  the  fishes  were  asleep  in  their  caves 

cool  and  deep. 
When   the  ripple  round  my  keel   flashed 

a  warning. 
Said  the  minnow  to  the  skate,  "  We  must 

certainly  be  late. 
Though  I  thought  't  was  very  early  in  the 

morning.'* 

122 


A  SONG   FOR  HAL  123 

Chorus 
For  every  little  wave  has  its  nightcap  on. 
Its  nightcap,  white  cap,  nightcap  on. 
For  every  httle  wave  has  its  nightcap  on, 
So  very,  very  early  in  the  morning. 

The  lobster  darkly  green  soon  appeared 
upon  the  scene. 

And  pearly  drops  his  claws  were  adorn- 
ing. 

Quoth  he,  "  May  I  be  boiled,  if  I  '11  have 
my  slumber  spoiled. 

So  very,  very  early  in  the  morning !  " 

Chorus 
For  every  little  wave  has  its  nightcap  on, 
Its  nightcap,  white  cap,  nightcap  on. 
For  every  little  wave  has  its  nightcap  on. 
So  very,  very  early  in  the  morning. 

Said  the  sturgeon  to  the  eel,  "  Just  imagine 

how  I  feel, 
Thus  roused  without  a  syllable  of  warning. 
People  ought  to  let  us  know   when  a-sail- 

ing  they  would  go, 
So  very,  very  early  in  tlje  morning." 


124  A  SONG   FOR  HAL 

Chorus 
When  every  little  wave  has  its  nightcap  on. 
Its  nightcap,  white  cap,  nightcap  on. 
When  every  little  wave  has  its  nightcap  on, 
So  very,  very  early  in  the  morning. 

Just  then  up  jumped   the  sun,   and   the 

fishes  every  one 
For  their  laziness  at  once  fell  a-mourning. 
But  I  stayed  to  hear  no  more,  for  my  boat 

had  reached  the  shore, 
So  very,  very  early  in  the  morning. 


Chorus 
And  every  little  wave  took  its  nightcap  off. 
Its  nightcap,   white   cap,   nightcap  off. 
And  every  little  wave  took  its  nightcap  off. 
And  courtesied  to  the  sun  in  the  morning. 


FOR  YOU  AND  ME 

HAVE  come  to  speak  to 
you  about  your  work," 
said  the  Angel-who-at- 
tends-to-things.  "  It 
appears  to  be  unsatisfac- 
tory." 

"Indeed!"  said  the 
man.  "  I  hardly  see  how  that  can  be. 
Perhaps  you  will  explain." 

"  I  will  I "  said  the  Angel.  "  To  begin 
with,  the  work  is  slovenly." 

"  I  was  born  heedless,"  said  the  man. 
"  It  is  a  family  failing  which  I  have  always 
regretted." 

"  It  is  ill  put  together,  too ; "  said  the 
Angel.     "The  parts  do  not  fit." 

"  I  never  had  any  eye  for  proportion,*' 

said  the  man  ;  "  I  admit  it  is  unfortunate." 

"  The  whole  thing  is  a  botch,"  said  the 

Angel.      "  You   have  put  neither    brains 

nor  heart  into  it,  and  the  result  is  ridic- 

126 


126  FOR   YOU   AND   ME 

ulous  failure.  What  do  you  propose  to 
do  about  it?" 

"  I  credited  you  with  more  comprehen- 
sion," said  the  man.  "  My  faults,  such  as 
they  are,  were  born  with  me.  I  am  sorry 
that  you  do  not  approve  of  me,  but  this  is 
the  way  I  was  made  ;  do  you  see  ?  " 

"  I  see  1 "  said  the  Angel.  He  put  out  a 
strong  white  hand,  and  taking  the  man  by 
the  collar,  tumbled  him  neck  and  crop  into 
the  ditch. 

"  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  ? "  cried 
the  man,  as  he  scrambled  out  breathless 
and  dripping.  "  I  never  saw  such  behav- 
ior. Do  you  see  what  you  have  done? 
you  have  ruined  my  clothes,  and  nearly 
drowned  me  beside." 

**  Oh  yes  !"  said  the  Angel:  "  this  is  the 
way  /  was  made." 


THE  BURNING  HOUSE 

OME    neighbours  were 
walking  together  in  the 
cool  of  the  day,  watch- 
ing the  fall  of  the  twi- 
light, and  talking  of  this 
and   that ;    and   as   they 
t^^^^^^^     walked,    they   saw   at   a 
little  distance  a  light,  as  it  were  a  house 
on  fire. 

"  From  the  direction,  that  must  be 
our  neighbour  William's  house,"  said  one. 
"Ought  we  not  to  warn  him  of  the 
danger  ? " 

"  I  see  only  a  Uttle  flame,"  said  another  ; 
"  perchance  it  may  go  out  of  itself,  and  no 
harm  done." 

"  I  should  be  loth  to  carry  ill  news,"  said 
a  third  ;  "  it  is  always  a  painful  thing  to 
do." 

"William  is  not  a  man  who  welcomes 
interference,"  said  a  fourth.    "  I  should  not 

127 


128  THE   BURNING   HOUSE 

like  to  be  the  one  to  intrude  upon  his  pri- 
vacy ;  probably  he  knows  about  the  fire, 
and  is  managing  it  in  his  own  wayo" 

While    they  were    talking,    the    house 
burned  up^ 


THE    NAUGHTY   COMET 


HE  door  of  the 
Comet  House  was 
open.  In  the  great 
court-yard  stood 
hundreds  of  comets, 
of  all  sizes  and 
shapes.  Some  were 
puffing  and  blowing,  and  arranging  their 
tails,  all  ready  to  start;  others  had  just 
come  in,  and  looked  shabby  and  forlorn 
after  their  long  journeyings,  their  tails 
drooping  disconsolately;  while  others  still 
were  switched  off  on  side-tracks,  where 
the  tinker  and  the  tailor  were  attending 
to  their  wants,  and  setting  them  to  rights. 
In  the  midst  of  all  stood  the  Comet  Master, 
with  his  hands  behind  him,  holding  a  very 
long  stick  with  a  very  sharp  point.  The 
comets  knew  just  how  the  point  of  that 
stick  felt,  for  they  were  prodded  with  it 

129 


130  THE   NAUGHTY   COMET 

whenever  they  misbehaved  themselves; 
accordingly,  they  all  remained  very  quiet, 
while  he  gave  his  orders  for  the  day. 

In  a  distant  corner  of  the  court-yard 
lay  an  old  comet,  with  his  tail  comfortably 
curled  up  around  him.  He  was  too  old 
to  go  out,  so  he  enjoyed  himself  at  home 
in  a  quiet  way.  Beside  him  stood  a  very 
young  comet,  with  a  very  short  tail.  He 
was  quivering  with  excitement,  and  occa- 
sionally cast  sharp  impatient  glances  at 
the  Comet  Master.' 

"  Will  he  never  call  me .?  "  he  exclaimed, 
but  in  an  undertone,  so  that  only  his  com- 
panion could  hear.  "  He  knows  I  am 
dying  to  go  out,  and  for  that  very  reason 
he  pays  no  attention  to  me.  I  dare  not 
leave  my  place,  for  you  know  what  he  is." 

**  Ah !  "  said  the  old  comet,  slowly, 
"  if  you  had  been  out  as  often  as  I  have, 
you  would  not  be  in  such  a  hurry.  Hot, 
tiresome  work,  I  call  it.  And  what  does 
it  all  amount  to  ?  " 

'*  Ay,  that's  the  point !  "  exclaimed  the 
young  comet.  **  What  does  it  all  amount 
to  ?  That  is  what  I  am  determined  to  find 
out.     I  cannot  understand  your  going  on. 


THE   NAUGHTY   COMET         131 

travelling  and  travelling,  and  never  find- 
ing out  why  you  do  it.  /  shall  find  out, 
you  may  be  very  sure,  before  I  have 
finished  my  first  journey." 

"  Better  not !  better  not !  "  answered 
the  old  comet.  ''You'll  only  get  into 
trouble.  Nobody  knows  except  the  Comet 
Master  and  the  Sun.  The  Master  would 
cut  you  up  into  inch  pieces  if  you  asked 
him,  and  the  Sun  —  " 

'*  Well,  what  about  the  Sun  ?  "  asked 
the  young  comet,  eagerly. 

''  Short-tailed  Comet  No.  73  !  "  rang 
suddenly,  clear  and  sharp,  through  the 
court-yard. 

The  young  comet  started  as  if  he  had 
been  shot,  and  in  three  bounds  he  stood 
before  the  Comet  Master,  who  looked 
fixedly  at  him. 

"  You  have  never  been  out  before,*' 
said  the  Master. 

"  No,  sir !  "  replied  No.  73 ;  and  he 
knew  better  than  to  add  another  word. 

**  You  will  go  out  now,"  said  the  Comet 
Master.  "  You  will  travel  for  thirteen 
weeks  and  three  days,  and  will  then  return. 
You   will   avoid  the  neighborhood  of   the 


132         THE   NAUGHTY   COMET 

Sun,  the  Earth,  and  the  planet  Bungo. 
You  will  turn  to  the  left  on  meeting  other 
comets,  and  you  are  not  allowed  to  speak 
to  meteors.    These  are  your  orders.    Go  ! " 

At  the  word,  the  comet  shot  out  of  the 
gate  and  off  into  space,  his  short  tail 
bobbing  as  he  went. 

Ah !  here  was  something  worth  living 
for.  No  longer  shut  up  in  that  tiresome 
court-yard,  waiting  for  one's  tail  to  grow, 
but  out  in  the  free,  open,  boundless  realm 
of  space,  with  leave  to  shoot  about  here 
and  there  and  everywhere  —  well,  nearly 
everywhere  —  for  thirteen  whole  weeks  ! 
Ah,  what  a  glorious  prospect !  How  swiftly 
he  moved !  How  well  his  tail  looked,  even 
though  it  was  still  rather  short !  What 
a  fine  fellow  he  was,  altogether ! 

For  two  or  three  weeks  our  comet  was 
the  happiest  creature  in  all  space;  too 
happy  to  think  of  anything  except  the 
joy  of  frisking  about.  But  by-and-by 
he  began  to  wonder  about  things,  and  that 
is  always  dangerous  for  a  comet. 

"  I  wonder,  now,"  he  said,  "  why  I 
may  not  go  near  the  planet  Bungo.  I 
have  always  heard  that  he  was  the  most 


THE   NAUGHTY   COMET  133 

interesting  of  all  the  planets.  And  the 
Sun !  how  I  should  like  to  know  a  little 
more  about  the  Sun !  And,  by  the  way, 
that  reminds  me  that  all  this  time  I  have 
never  found  out  why  I  am  travelling.  It 
shows  how  I  have  been  enjoying  myself, 
that  I  have  forgotten  it  so  long;  but  now 
I  must  certainly  make  a  point  of  finding 
out.  Hello !  there  comes  Long-Tail  No. 
45.     I  mean  to  ask  him." 

So  he  turned  out  to  the  left,  and  waited 
till  No.  45  came  along.  The  latter  was 
a  middle-aged  comet,  very  large,  and  with 
an  uncommonly  long  tail,  —  quite  pre- 
posterously long,  our  little  No.  73  thought, 
as  he  shook  his  own  tail  and  tried  to  make 
as  much  of  it  as  possible. 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Long-Tail !  "  he 
said  as  soon  as  the  other  was  within  speak- 
ing distance.  "  Would  you  be  so  very  good 
as  to  tell  me  what  you  are  travelling  for  ?  " 

*'  For  six  months,"  answered  No.  45 
with  a  puff  and  a  snort.  *'  Started  a 
month  ago;  five  months  still  to  go." 

'*  Oh,  I  don't  mean  that !  "  exclaimed 
Short-Tail  No.  73.  "I  mean  why  are 
you  travelling  at  all  ?  " 


134         THE   NAUGHTY   COMET 

**  Comet  Master  sent  me !  "  replied  No. 
45,  briefly. 

"  But  what  for  ?  "  persisted  the  Httle 
comet.  "What  is  it  all  about?  What 
good  does  it  do?  Why  do  we  travel  for 
weeks  and  months  and  years  ?  That 's 
what  I  want  to  find  out." 

"Don't  know,  I'm  sure!"  said  the 
elder,  still  more  shortly.  **  What 's  more, 
don't  care !  " 

The  little  comet  fairly  shook  with  amaze- 
ment and  indignation.  "  You  don't  care  !  " 
he  cried.  "Is  it  possible ?  And  how 
long,  may  I  ask,  have  you  been  travelling 
hither  and  thither  through  space,  without 
knowing  or  caring  why  ?  " 

"  Long  enough  to  learn  not  to  ask 
stupid  questions !  "  answered  Long-Tail 
No.  45.    "  Good  morning  to  you  !  " 

And  without  another  word  he  was  off, 
with  his  preposterously  long  tail  spreading 
itself  like  a  luminous  fan  behind  him. 
The  little  comet  looked  after  him  for  some 
time  in  silence.    At  last  he  said :  — 

"  Well,  I  call  that  simply  disgusting! 
An  ignorant,  narrow-minded  old  —  " 

"  Hello,  cousin !  "  called  a  clear  merry 


THE   NAUGHTY   COMET         135 

voice  just  behind  him.  *'  How  goes  it 
with  you  ?  Shall  we  travel  together  ?  Our 
roads  seem  to  go  in  the  same  direc- 
tion." 

The  comet  turned  and  saw  a  bright  and 
sparkling  meteor.  *'  I  —  I  —  must  not 
speak  to  you !  "  said  No.  73,  confusedly 

'*  Not  speak  to  me !  "  exclaimed  the 
meteor,  laughing.  "  Why,  what 's  the 
matter  ?  What  have  I  done  ?  I  never  saw 
you  before  in  my  life." 

"  N-nothing  that  I  know  of,"  answered 
No.  73,  still  more  confused. 

"  Then  why  must  n't  you  speak  to  me  ?  " 
persisted  the  meteor,  giving  a  little  skip 
and  jump.  '*  Eh  ?  tell  me  that,  will  you  ? 
Why  must  n't  you  ?  " 

*'  I  —  don't  —  know  !  "  answered  the 
little  comet,  slowly,  for  he  was  ashamed 
to  say  boldly,  as  he  ought  to  have  done, 
that  it  was  against  the  orders  of  the  Comet 
Master. 

**  Oh,  gammon !  "  cried  the  meteor, 
with  another  skip.  "  I  know !  Comet 
Master,  eh.?  But  a  fine  high-spirited 
young  fellow  like  you  is  n't  going  to  be 
afraid  of  that  old  tyrant.     Come  along, 


136         THE   NAUGHTY   COMET 

I  say !  If  there  were  any  real  reason  why 
you  should  not  speak  to  me  —  " 

"  That 's  just  what  I  say,"  interrupted 
the  comet,  eagerly.  "  What  is  the 
reason  ?    Why  don't  they  tell  it  to  me  ?  " 

*'  'Cause  there  is  n't  any !  "  rejoined 
the  meteor.     "  Come  along  !  " 

After  a  little  more  hesitation,  the  comet 
yielded,  and  the  two  frisked  merrily  along, 
side  by  side.  As  they  went.  No.  73  con- 
fided all  his  vexations  to  his  new  friend, 
who  sympathized  warmly  with  him,  and 
spoke  in  most  disrespectful  terms  of  the 
Comet  Master. 

"  A  pretty  sort  of  person  to  dictate 
to  you,  when  he  has  n't  the  smallest  sign 
of  a  tail  himself !  I  would  n't  submit 
to  it !  "  cried  the  meteor.  "As  to  the 
other  orders,  some  of  them  are  not  so  bad. 
Of  course,  nobody  would  want  to  go  near 
that  stupid,  poky  Earth,  if  he  could 
possibly  help  it;  and  the  planet  Bungo 
is  ^  ah  —  is  not  a  very  nice  planet,  I 
believe."  [The  fact  is,  the  planet  Bungo 
contains  a  large  reform-school  for  unruly 
meteors,  but  our  friend  made  no  mention 
of   that.]      '*  But   as   for    the    Sun,  —  the 


THE   NAUGHTY   COMET         137 

bright,  jolly,  delightful  Sun,  —  why,  I 
am  going  to  take  a  nearer  look  at  him 
myself.  Come  on !  We  will  go  together, 
in  spite  of  the  Comet  Master." 

Again  the  little  comet  hesitated  and 
demurred;  but  after  all,  he  had  already 
broken  one  rule,  and  why  not  another.^ 
He  would  be  punished  in  any  case,  and 
he  might  as  well  get  all  the  pleasure  he 
could.  Reasoning  thus,  he  yielded  once 
more  to  the  persuasions  of  the  meteor, 
and  together  they  shot  through  the  great 
space-world,  taking  their  way  straight 
toward  the  Sun. 

When  the  Sun  saw  them  coming,  he 
smiled  and  seemed  much  pleased.  He 
stirred  his  fire,  and  shook  his  shining 
locks,  and  blazed  brighter  and  brighter, 
hotter  and  hotter.  The  heat  seemed  to 
have  a  strange  effect  on  the  comet,  for  he 
began  to  go  faster  and  faster. 

"  Hold  on  !  "  said  the  meteor.  "  ^Vhy 
are  you  hurrying  so?  I  cannot  keep  up 
with  you." 

"  I  cannot  stop  myself!  "  cried  No.  73. 
*'  Something  is  drawing  me  forward,  faster 
and  faster !  " 


138         THE   NAUGHTY    COMET 

On  he  went  at  a  terrible  rate,  the  meteor 
following  as  best  he  might.  Several  planets 
that  he  passed  shouted  to  him  in  warning 
tones,  but  he  could  not  hear  what  they 
said.  The  Sun  stirred  his  fire  again,  and 
blazed  "^^  %hter  and  brighter,  hotter  and 
hotter;  and  onward  rushed  the  wretched 
little  comet,  faster  and  faster,  faster  and 
faster ! 

"  Catch  hold  of  my  tail  and  stop  me !  " 
he  shrieked  to  the  meteor.  "  I  am  shrivel- 
ling, burning  up,  in  this  fearful  heat ! 
Stop  me,  for  pity's  sake !  " 

But  the  meteor  was  already  far  behind, 
and  had  stopped  short  to  watch  his  com- 
panion's headlong  progress.  And  now,  — 
ah,  me !  —  now  the  Sun  opened  his  huge 
fiery  mouth.  The  comet  made  one  des- 
perate effort  to  stop  himself,  but  it  was 
in  vain.  An  awful,  headlong  plunge 
through  the  intervening  space;  a  hissing 
and  crackling ;  a  shriek,  —  and  the  fiery 
jaws  had  closed  on  Short-Tail  No.  73 
forever ! 

**  Dear  me !  "  said  the  meteor.  "  How 
very  shocking !  I  quite  forgot  that  the 
Sun  ate  comets.    I  must  be  off,  or  I  shall 


THE   NAUGHTY   COMET         139 

get  an  aeon  in  the  Reform  School  for  this. 
I  am  really  very  sorry,  for  he  was  a  nice 
little  comet !  " 

And  aw  ^''^d  the  meteor,  and  soon 

forgot  all 

But  in  the  great  couxt  ^  ^  mSont  of 
the  Comet  House,  the  Master  took  a  piece 
of  chalk,  and  crossed  out  No.  73  from  the 
list  of  short-tailed  c  mets  on  the  slate 
that  hangs  on  the  door.  Then  he  called 
out,  **  No.  1  Express,  come  forward !  " 
and  the  swiftest  of  all  the  comets  stood 
before  him,  brilliant  and  beautiful,  with  a 
bewildering  magnificence  of  tail.  The 
Comet  Master  spoke  sharply  and  de- 
cidedly, as  usual,  but  not  unkindly. 

"No.  73,  Short-Tail,"  he  said,  "has 
disobeyed  orders,  and  has  in  consequence 
been  devoured  by  the  Sun." 

Here  there  was  a  great  sensation  among 
the  comets. 

"No.  1,"  continued  the  Master,  "you 
will  start  immediately,  and  travel  until 
you  find  a  runaway  meteor,  with  a  red 
face  and  blue  hair.  You  are  permitted 
to  make  inquiries  of  respectable  bodies, 
such  as  planets  or  satellites.    When  found. 


140  THE   NAUGHTY   COMET 

you  will  arrest  him  and  take  him  to  the 
planet  Bungo.  My  compliments  to  the 
Meteor  Keeper,  and  I  shall  be  obliged 
if  he  will  give  this  meteor  two  aeons  in  the 
Reform  School.  I  trust,"  he  continued, 
turning  to  the  assembled  comets,  *'  that 
this  will  be  a  lesson  to  all  of  you !  " 
And  I  believe  it  was. 


DAY   DREAMS 

'HITE    wings    over    the 
water. 
Fluttering,   fluttering 

over  the  sea. 
White    wings   over   the 
water. 
What  are  you  bringing  to  me  ? 
A  fairy  prince  in  a  golden  boat. 
With  golden  ringlets  that  fall  and  float, 
A  velvet  cap,  and  a  taffety  cloak. 
This  you  are  bringing  to  me. 

Fairy,  fairy  princekin. 
Sailing,  sailing  hither  to  me. 
Silk  and  satin  and  velvet. 
What  are  you  coming  to  see  ? 
A  little  girl  in  a  calico  gown. 
With  hair  and  eyes  of  dusky  brown, 
W^ho  sits  on  the  wharf  of  the  fishing-town. 
Looking  away  to  sea. 
Ul 


142  DAY   DREAMS 

Golden,  golden  sunbeams. 

Touch  me  now  with  your  wands  of   gold; 

Make  me  a  beautiful  princess. 

Radiant  to  behold. 

Blue  and  silver  and  ermine  fine. 

Diamond  drops  that  flash  and  shine; 

So  shall  I  meet  this  prince  of  mine. 

Fairer  than  may  be  told. 

White  wings  over  the  water. 
Fluttering  ever  farther  away; 
Dark  clouds  shrouding  the  sunbeams. 
Sullen  and  cold  and  gray. 
Back  I  go  in  my  calico  gown. 
Back  to  the  hut  in  the  fishing-town. 
And  oh,  but  the  night  shuts  darkly  down 
After  the  summer  day ! 


YB  37095 


'    itrA  1  1 


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